Murdered to Death

Murdered to Death, by Peter Gordon, is one of the ‘Inspector Pratt’ trilogy – spoofs of the Agatha Christie genre of whodunits, recognised as very clever and hilarious having been performed by both amateur and professionals all over the world.

The action begins in the lounge of a country manor house where Dorothy and Mildred are awaiting the arrival of guests.  Cheryl Mills portrayed Dorothy with warmth opposite Amanda Fowler as the house owner Mildred, and Stuart Micklewright as the bumbling alcoholic butler Bunting.  Each guest is introduced in turn.  Lee Rodgers gave a very military style upper-crust Colonel Charles Craddock, with Jo Maxwell as his tolerant wife Jo.  Paul McGarth was the convincing art dealer, Pierre Marceau, accompanying Emma Jones as the haughty Elizabeth Hartley-Trumington.  There was one final arrival, that of Diane Pargeter as the nosey neighbour Joan Maple, portrayed with just the right amount of down-to-earth logic from this lovely old dear.  The scene was now set for the deadly crime.

Steve Magor, as Inspector Pratt, gave a lift to the whole proceedings, delivering his lines with pace and clarity his bumbling way of trying to solve the case was so believable.  His interaction with Neil Mapplebeck, as the long suffering Constable Thompkins, was a joy to watch.  In the end he got his man.

This was George Collins first outing as a director, and he should be very proud of the outcome.  It lacked a little pace, particularly at the beginning, but was well received by an enthusiastic audience. Well done to everybody.

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