Murdered to Death

The audience certainly entered into the spirit of this skilfully directed comedy from the word go as the fun started immediately with an amusing in character “front of house” announcement warning of gunshots to come!

The tabs opened to a well-furnished set depicting the comfortable drawing-room of a 1930’s country house, with an eclectic display of paintings on the walls, setting the  scene perfectly for the action to unfold in typical “Christie” style,  with “red herrings” a plenty! 

Mildred the matriarch of the house is awaiting the arrival of guests for the weekend,  attended by Bunting her bumbling butler, and her companion Dorothy, who is always at her beck and call and ensuring that the household ran efficiently.

Crusty Colonel Craddock, and wife Margaret, arrive followed by the patronising Elizabeth Hartley-Trumpington and smooth Frenchman Pierre Marceau, who hopes to persuade Mildred to invest in some more artwork – but is everyone really who they appear to be?

Into the mix comes Miss Maple, the congenial spinster neighbour, who inveigles herself an invitation to dinner and in true “Christie” fashion manages to “thicken the plot”!

Mildred is quickly “dispatched” early in the proceedings, and her murder sees the arrival of Inspector Pratt, a temporary promotion, and his “sidekick” PC Thompkins, and what a duo they were!

Having seen this piece several times it was interesting to see the different “take” on the performances.

Inspector Pratt certainly lived up to his name and was effectively supported metaphorically and physically by PC Thompkins, who quite obviously had the keener brain! This combination made for some brilliantly funny exchanges, all very well played, with Pratt at one point in pure ”Clouseau” mode and poor Thompkins even forgetting his own name! 

Colonel Craddock was excellent played very much in the “ex-colonial” style always with his eye for a pretty “gal, and in the mistaken belief that he had concealed his long-standing affair with Mildren from his wife. No chance!  Although played initially as the supporting housewife of the time, this “old gal” certainly knew what had been going on as her expressions showed and she certainly turned the tables at the end! 

Bunting had the audience in stitches from the start, and his recurring entrances with various pieces of kitchen paraphernalia added to the fun, successfully concealing his true character and the real purpose of his presence in the house to aid and abet Margaret with the murders.

In this production Dorothy was played as a strong and determined character who definitely had the measure of the visitors and Mildred was gently portrayed making the most of her scenes before her demise!

The true characters of Pierre, with some great mannerisms, and Elizabeth were revealed when they switched from French entrepreneur, and Cheltenham Ladies’ Gal, to “wide-boy” con-artist, and his “moll”, both neatly played. 

Miss Marple was simply on top form and was a perfect role for this experienced performer, her denouement speech supposedly disclosing the perpetrator was hilarious.

The scene changes were smoothly managed with the lights taken down and a loud ticking clock denoting the passage of time, and there were some excellent lighting effects on Edvard Munch’s The Scream USL at the moments of “high drama”. Very well done!  What a treat it was!

Any observation made by the reviewer can only be based on what they see at the performance in question.  The reviewer may have received information in advance of the performance, and it is inevitable that their assessment will be affected by that knowledge.

The N.O.D.A. Representative’s intention is to give an objective critique of the overall production and in particular the performance viewed.  It should be remembered that any review of this nature can only be objective as far as the techniques used during the performance observed.  Any criticisms expressed may not have been valid at other performances and are only made to encourage higher standards in Amateur Theatre.

It is hoped that the audience’s appreciation of your efforts will have given everyone a lift and encouraged you to greater achievements in the future and that the observations made by the reviewer will prove helpful in improving future productions.

 

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