Murdered to Death

I do so like an open stage on entering the auditorium, albeit that this was the village hall, as it gave me time to take in the set for the evening performance. As an avid Agatha Christie fan, the village hall was the perfect setting for this play written by Peter Gordon and splendidly directed by Andrew Howie, which was a parody of several well-known Miss Marple mysteries. The village hall has been the scene of many a murder a la Mrs. Christie! But back to the set; it was wonderful, I would have been quite happy if this had been my living room; the gorgeous furniture, artwork and assembled props, not to mention the real-effect fire made it all look so inviting. A lot of attention had been made to ensure that it was the perfect setting for the play. On top of this as the performance unfurled the lighting effects were natural and unobtrusive in the small intimate setting. The working rear double doors that opened onto a small corridor, used to great effect, was perfect as was the door leading off stage right into the dining room. It was an amazing set and deserves a separate accolade. 

It was a fantastic first night, with faultless performances from the cast. The accents were accurate and the costumes beautifully appropriate for the period, although I think it would have been better for Liz Toone if she had worn a longer dress in both acts as the stage is eye level to the audience, but she did a Stirling job in getting off the sofa with dignity intact. Unlike Angela Meredith who was quite happy for us to glimpse her red bloomers, much to the audiences’ amusement.

Individually, Sue Ricketts played the first murder victim, ‘Mildred Bagshot’ who had invited guests for the weekend to the home that she shared with her niece ‘Dorothy’ played by Liz and her man servant ‘Bunting’ played by Pip Barber (he with the dodgy toupee). The opening interaction with the openly insolent ‘Bunting’ particularly his entrance with the axe, was hilarious and this was the common theme throughout. The pace was set by the trio and never dipped at all; the comic timing from everyone was admirable. Entering next came the first guests; ‘Colonel Craddock’ and his wife ‘Margaret’ played admirably by Bob Clarke and Dianne Lloyd. Margaret’s exasperation with her husband was subtle to start with and built to the crescendo that was unexpected by most of us, who hadn’t worked out who the killer was. The antics between Sue and Pip were so funny, especially when Bob was pushed so trustingly on to the chesterfield with Sue following rapidly behind. This was well practiced and looked unplanned. As did Liz sitting on Ali’s lap: it was completely natural and appeared accidental.

The final guests to arrive were Ben Swift and Ali Harris as ‘Pierre Marceau’ and ‘Elizabeth Hartley-Trumpington’ a French art dealer and a high society girl whom, as it enfolded, had assumed these personas to swindle the rich. I was so relieved when Ben changed to cockney as it proved just how well he was doing when putting on a terrible French accent. It was so bad it was good! I was just waiting for him to announce ‘he was just pissing past the door’ in true ‘Allo ‘Allo style. Ali was very good in both guises and totaly believable. 

The unwanted visitor was ‘Miss Maple’ played by Angela Meredith. She was the antithesis of the Jane Marple character and it was hilarious when she didn’t manage to get it right. Her quick interruptions to the general dialogue were delivered almost as if she was talking to herself in true ‘Marple’ fashion, plus her veiled references to Marple and Poirot were so funny!

Jonny Stephens was superb as ‘Constable Tomkins’; his facial expressions spoke volumes and his quick interjections to Bill Wilks playing the incompetent ‘Inspector Pratt’ were quick, slick and because of the fantastic script, witty. His Pratfall into the dining room was extremely well done, but so were the many falls achieved by Bill in a hilarious delivery of malapropisms, ridiculous facial expressions and guttural annoyance at everyone and everything (especially himself). He looked just like Chief Inspector Clouseau with the same abilities, which basically meant that he was inept! His ability to remember how to mis-pronounce nearly every other word and to call Tomkins, Thompson all the way through was a huge achievement and he was quite amazing.

This was my first visit as Noda representative to Colwall Players, thank you for inviting me and the very warm welcome I received from everyone. I look forward to your future productions.

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