Murdered to Death

Murdered to Death a play staged by St Michael’s Amateur Dramatic Society at St Michael’s Church Hall, Shaw Street, Wigan on Friday, 20th May, 2022

Mildred has a secret; Margaret has a secret - her husband Charles is hiding two secrets; even the glamorous Elizabeth Hartley-Trumpington has a secret and exactly who is the Frenchman… Pierre Marcaau… even he is harbouring a secret? This eclectic mix of people have all accepted Mildred's invitation to a weekend reunion party at her country home, Bagshot Manor. Add a well-meaning but uninvited guest in the form of Miss Joan Maple, who seems to attract disaster whenever or wherever she goes and the scene is set for murder! This hilarious spoof in the best tradition of an Agatha Christie novel is written by Peter Gordon.

Ian Field (Director) and David Palin (Assistant Director) did a great job with this play.  Having read the ‘Directors Jottings’ from the programme and having had it re-affirmed at the end of the play – this was a play of many first’s… Dave Palin’s first time in the director’s seat.  Two new female members taking on their first-ever speaking roles, whilst St Michael’s offered a young fourteen-year-old lad, his first ever role in an adult production!  We also had a ‘lady stand in’… with only weeks to go to opening night, she took on a main role and made a great job of it!  All I can say is… if I hadn’t read it in the programme or been told about all his at the end, I would never have guessed… be proud folks…probably not your ‘first’ congrats for this play… but congratulations anyway!

The curtain opened onto a ‘simple set’ that was used throughout… the lounge of Bagshot Manor!  The set effectively used every available inch of stage here at St Michaels’ Church Hall. I loved the use of multiple entrances and exits, which were used constantly throughout the production.  We also had two beautiful paintings hanging on the wall that were integral to the plot… these paintings were painted by Freya Sixsmith a new ‘young member’ to the Society (a talent that will be used again and again no doubt) … well done Freya… good job!  Many congrats to Ian Field, David Palin and SMADS Members on the set design and construction.

As you will all know by now… this is where I usually ‘stick my neck out’ and start selecting my favourite performances!  Sometimes, it isn’t easy ‘picking favourites’ when you can tell that everyone on stage had worked ever so hard, given of their best or when, as previously stated, you have so many first timers on stage who you can just tell had given their all (you cannot ask more) … but, as always, I do think it would be remiss of me not to give a few ‘shout outs’….

‘Show stealer’ for me was Darran Robertson’s interpretation of the bumbling, inept, incompetent  police officer ‘Inspector Pratt’.  Darran made this part his own… great diction, great stage presence, never out of character… loved the part where he fell flat on the floor behind the couch… wasn’t sure if that was staged or if he had just missed the couch… but brought heaps of laughter from the audience… (If my memory serves me well, it was not that long ago, May 2019, when Darran was making his first appearance for St Michael’s as the Caretaker in ‘Murder in Company’). Well done, Darran, great job!   Dave Palin not only helped direct this play, but he also took on a main role in the form of ‘Bunting’ the pedantic and rather creepy Butler who definitely liked a drink! Being around 6’3” tall David provides an imposing figure at the best of times and he used that height to create a very creepy and at time, sinister figure… great characterisation, great mannerisms, great stage presence… well done David great job sir!   Julie Bradshaw took on the role of ‘Mildred Bagshot’ the owner of Bagshot Manor and our sole corpse!  Julie, was one of the previously mentioned ‘first timers’, her first-time speaking role of which she made a really good job of!  Never out of character, believable at all time, was a perfect fit for this part, well done Julie…onward and upward!  Rachael Sixsmith was the second of our two first time speaking roles; taking on the role of ‘Elizabeth Hartley-Trumpington’ a society Socialite/hardly… who had one or two dark secrets to hide of her own! Rachael looked so comfortable in this role it could have been written for her!  Confident, great stage presence, never out of character, loved the accent changes… you would never have known that this was a first!  Well done young lady…great job!  Karen Heyes took on the role of ‘Dorothy’, the niece/companion/housekeeper of Mildred Bagshot.  Good stage presence and again never out of character… be proud Karen.   The Craddock’s – ‘Colonel Charles and Margaret’ played by Patrick McNulty and June Dowd respectively.  You cannot buy experience and in Patrick and June we have two that have it in ‘bucket loads’… they made these two roles their own… confident, great stage presence, never out of character… well done you two…great jobs!  Geoff Newman took on the role of the French Art Dealer… ‘Pierre Marceau’… another with lots to hide… ‘French’ I think not!  Again, Geoff looked totally comfortable in this role… again loved the character changes…good job!   Lewis Holding took on the role of ‘Constable Thompkins’ and played it with great aplomb!  Lewis was our fourteen-year-old in his first adult production… and again you would never have thought that he was fourteen let alone in his first adult production.  Confident, looked the part, had some great interaction with Darren and worked ever so well with the entire cast.  Well done young man… bright future!  Finally, our late arrival… with just over four weeks to learn a major part can only be applauded… well done ‘Rebel’ Moore for taking on this last-minute role of ‘Miss Joan Maple’.  Based on the Agatha Christie character … Miss Marple… ‘Rebel’ created a totally believable character who had great mannerisms and facial expressions that enhanced the role… well done, great job!

Stage Management… was under the control of Julie Clarke (Stage Manager) and Hayley Bentham (Assistant Stage Manager) … well done ladies.  Sound and Lighting… was, as always, in the capable hands of Caitriona Muir. Both sound and lighting are limited here at St Michael’s, but she always gets the best out of both and she always gets an extra ‘brownie point’ from me for scaling that ladder to enter the ‘crow’s nest’…  well done, Caitriona… another good job!  Props were under the watchful eye of Hayley Bentham… appropriate and of the period and used well throughout the show… well done Hayley.  Costumes were ‘perfect’ and enhanced the production ever so much. Congrats to ‘Charades’ of St. Helens for providing three specialist costumes and June Dowd for the remainder of the wardrobe!

“Constructive Advice” … if I may be so bold as to offer just a tiny piece of ‘constructive advice’ for both established and new members alike …  if you find yourself ‘speaking upstage’ with your back toward the audience, especially when not ‘miked up’ (and it happens a lot) … you have to speak louder!  If you don’t, then more often than not, the audience won’t hear what’s being said and will lose so much!  If you can avoid it… avoid it… if you can’t … ‘speak louder’!  Hope I haven’t offended anyone, this was never my intention…  this is purely constructive advice for the future!

Thank you once again for inviting my wife and I to your production and thank you for such an amazing evening; it really is always a pleasure to visit St Michael’s…  I hope to see you all again very soon!

Stay safe and keep well…

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

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