Prescription for Murder

Keeping the audience guessing is a key facet of murder mysteries such as this.  The clues are there, of course, but picking them out of a shoal of red herrings is quite a task.  The audience oohed and aahed every time someone said they could murder a cup of tea, or whatever, and the characters were developed with such painstaking care that you were constantly forced to reappraise what was actually going on.  Has somebody been murdered?  Is somebody about to be murdered?  And by whom?  I don’t know!

Dr Richard Forth is a respected General Practitioner living in the village of Bere Knighton in Devon.  He’s actually the last character to appear on stage, so we know plenty about him before we get to meet him: that he moved to the village relatively recently, that his first wife died, that his new wife, Barbara, appears to be almost permanently unwell.  In fact, quite a few of his patients don’t seem to be particularly well either.  “Prescription for Murder”, eh?

Barbara’s neuroses and insecurities drive the narrative, and the ups and downs of her physical and mental wellbeing were persuasively portrayed.  But what about the Forths’ cleaner Dorothy, and their friends Allan and Mary Haigh?  Is it relevant that one of Richard’s patients, Julia, wants to marry him and leave him a substantial sum of money in her will?  And who is the mysterious visitor, Eric, who threatens to expose some long-hidden secrets?

That’s the thing with these murder mysteries: you set up a situation populated with stereotypes – the country GP, the retired couple, the amorous widow, the mysterious visitor – and then you start deconstructing the whole thing so that everyone is a potential murderer, or victim, or both.  The director proved to be highly skilled in the dark arts of building character to mislead, of developing a narrative full of twists and turns, of scattering clues to the mystery without giving it away.  In this she was supported by the whole cast; looking back, all the evidence was there to work out what was actually going on, but the cast handled the shifting suspicions very convincingly.

The set was another very impressive aspect of the production, with the walls of the Forths’ living room extending well into the auditorium; there was an immediacy to the play which it’s unusual to experience.  There was carpet on the floor, wood panelling below the dado rail and framed prints on the walls.  A glass-fronted bookcase complemented other quality wooden pieces including a desk and an occasional table; the range of ornaments was well chosen and displayed, and there were some appropriate magazines in the rack.  Personal properties were similarly well realised, from the doctor’s battered leather bag to the cleaner’s caddy and vacuum cleaner.

All the principals had several changes of costume in keeping with their characters; Dr Forth’s staid and dependable sports jackets contrasted with Barbara’s youthful cotton dresses, Dorothy sported a char’s headscarf, Allan’s bowling shorts gave way to comfortable slacks, and Mary’s patterned and cosy cardigan practically had her date of birth embroidered on it.  Colour was well used, with Julia dressed in red and black when making her amorous intentions clear, and Eric drawing on a distinct colour palette which emphasised his position as an outsider.

In her programme note, the director expressed her desire to hoodwink the audience right until the very end, so based on this criterion and a sample size of one, I can confidently say that she succeeded magnificently.  This was a really polished production: beautifully staged, engaging and entertaining.  The talented ensemble of actors pitched their performances perfectly to persuade and mislead in roughly equal measure; not only did they keep the audience guessing, but they expertly shifted the terms of reference so that an apparently brilliant deduction might feel foolish mere seconds later.  I left convinced that the murder mystery is a distinct genre, and that the Thame Players are notably skilful exponents.

© NODA CIO.  All rights reserved.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.