Saturday Night Cleaver

Once again, Heckington Players have created another wonderfully themed and entertaining murder mystery dinner experience.   Written by Kei Bailey, directed by Elaine Wilson and produced by Jaqui Hodgetts, the appreciative audience were treated to a witty script and the attention to detail I have come to expect from this society. 

From the moment we entered, the cast were in full character, as we were warmly greeted by the staff of ‘The Last Resort Hotel’ including a familiar face selling programmes!  Each hotel staff member, who were the waitresses and waiters for the night, wore a brown uniform – waistcoats for the men and pinafores and cravats for the ladies.

Once at our table, we spotted lots of 70s props including single vinyl records, a menu on the table (including a Black Forest Gateau) and a sealed envelope containing a resume of each of the characters.  I also liked the addition of a room key which served as our table number and in the background, 70s music, which all added to the overall ambience and theme. 

Gradually, we met more of the hotel staff, including the general manager, Godfrey Bloomflannel (Glen Barker) a fussy man and stickler for efficiency who prides himself on the reputation of the hotel and Topiary Cutbush (Mandi Wood) the receptionist who had a Sybil Fawlty vibe answering the telephone with sickly sweet sarcasm. 

The first guests arrive.  These are Phyllis Brisket a famous crime novelist (Colette Buchanan-Gray) and her flamboyant friend and companion Everard Fanthorpe played by author Kei Bailey.  Next to arrive, are meek Marilyn and her passive aggressive husband Terry Nutclough (Melanie Priestley and Steve Watkins) Marilyn’s odious domineering mother, Olive Gripewater (Sue Porter) and dotty Aunty Doris who likes knitting and talking to plants (Mandie Collier) who are all staying at the hotel to attend a christening. Olive is a belligerent woman who belittles her long-suffering daughter criticising and bulldozing everyone in her path.  She even verbally berates Topiary saying sarcastically that the customer is ‘always right.’ 

More christening guests arrive, the flirty, vivacious Eloise Breese (Hannah Priestley) accompanied by her dour friend Shandie Figgins (Lois Johnson-Smith) and the bluff Ray Merridick (David O’Brien) with his socially awkward son Nigel (Harry Fiddler).

The final character introduced, is the surly chef Berni Spatchcock (Laura Davies) a recovering alcoholic who despises vegetarians and any changes to her rigid routines. Some of Laura’s lines were exceptionally well delivered, with great facial expressions! The line, when referring to the murder weapon,  ‘That was my best meat cleaver’ gave the audience a good laugh ! 

Afterall, this is a murder mystery, so who is going to be the unfortunate victim? Suddenly someone staggers in with a meat cleaver deeply embedded in their back.  It is the odious harridan Olive Gripewater, who dramatically collapses to the floor dead.  

In-between the action on stage, we were treated to a delicious three course meal, delivered by the hotel staff and the chance to question them about the hotel and its guests. 

Phyllis Briskett, in the style of TV crime writer Jessica Fletcher, becomes the amateur sleuth analysing clues and sorting through a whole tank of red herrings designed to confuse and enlighten and point towards the guilty culprit who is finally unveiled at the end.

This slick production had more than few witty innuendos and double entendres making it a cross between a Carry On Film and Fawlty Towers all well-loved staples of 70s entertainment and a loving nod to the broad, cheeky humour of the 1970’s, clever, nostalgic and still reliably funny, and still raising a laugh from the audience. 

All the cast worked well together creating dynamic groups as they interacted with each other. I liked the good-natured bantering between Phyllis and Everard which established the nature of their relationship.  Colette was excellent as the novelist turned sleuth, firing questions at the suspects and ensuring that the audience could follow along as she made her deductions treating the crime as a jigsaw puzzle to be assembled and solved.  Kei, as Everard her companion, was a fun character providing much of the risque humour as he bantered with the other characters. He played the role brilliantly and gave a sharp performance such as we have come to expect of such a talented writer and performer.  I loved the way they sat on the sofa sipping cocktails, people watching, as events unfolded around them.

Mandi Wood was very good as the sickly-sweet Topiary with her funny opening monologue on the phone to a potential guest and she maintained her ‘sing-song’ voice throughout. I liked her desperate attempt to seduce her boss and her simmering rage and cutting comments at this refusal.  I loved Glen Barker as Godfrey Bloomflannel in his portrayal of the neurotic hotel manager desperately trying to keep calm as everything fell apart around him.  His account of being attacked by rampant squirrels after his fruit and nut bar was hilarious. 

Sue Porter, as Olive Gripewater, was the perfect murder victim with a host of suspects lining up to strike the fatal blow due to her cantankerous personality and perpetual rudeness. Mandie Collier as her sister Doris was very funny muttering to herself as she talked to the pot plants.

Lois Johnson-Smith played a good part as the grumpy Shandi in complete contrast to her more sociable friend Eloise.  I liked her body language with folded arms and permanent scowl as she reacted with disdain to the other characters as befits her generation. 

Harry Fiddler played the part of the sensitive Nigel very well with good body language he acted with his whole body flinching and almost jumping with fright at his overbearing father, Ray. 

Melanie Priestley was wonderful as the brow-beaten daughter and sex-starved wife whose delight at her mother’s murder was hilarious, slurring her words as she became increasingly more drunk.  Steve Watkins as her husband was perfect in his creation of a passive-aggressive, anally retentive man, more in love with his stamps and trains than his own wife. 

Special mention to Hannah Priestley, as the bright and bubbly but very ditsy Eloise.  Her character creation was hilarious especially as she tried unsuccessfully to administer first aid to her unconscious friend totally getting the wrong end of the stick.  I liked her innocent flirting with Ray while coquettishly fiddling with her hair and her mix up with ‘Scampi’ for ‘Bambi’ was very funny.  Also, to David O’Brien, who played a very different character this time, as the blunt, brash Ray Merridick and he performed well in this role creating a believable character as the working-class businessman. 

As always, I was very impressed with the set which had lots of wonderful 70s kitsch details such as furnishings and orange geometric wallpaper, which was popular at the time, and a vintage style telephone. 

Wigs and costumes were excellent reflecting the character of each cast member and fully embraced the 70s fashion vibe.  I loved the vintage dress worn by Phyllis (very Margot Leadbetter) and the mini dress and leather coat worn by Eloise.  Nigel wore a woolly tank top and flower shirt to reflect his shy personality and Terence dressed accordingly in shades of brown befitting a train spotter. 

Backstage team were excellent in any changes and new comer to the role of Stage Manager, George Statham, was so calm and kept everything and everyone, running smoothly.

Lighting design provided by Keith Baggley, ensured that the stage was always reasonably well lit, albeit with a few shadows, with the limited lighting the group currently has and the sound design by David Whipps provided the 70s vibe ambience and sound effects. 

Thank you once again for the lovely warm welcome from all the cast and production team you should be very proud of this wonderful show that was thoroughly appreciated by the ample audience.  

The highly detailed programme containing cast bios and appropriate 70s facts and information, fulfils all the criteria and will be entered into the programme competition. 

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