Sleighed to Death

To those who have seen Peter Gordon’s trilogy about the totally inefficient Inspector Pratt this play will come as a surprise. Here we have the prequel where Pratt is still a Sergeant in the Police Force, and at the end it begs the question of how did he ever get promoted to Inspector.

Dave Hawxwell as the incompetent Sergeant Pratt, initially badly disguised as Father Christmas and claiming to be collecting on behalf of the Police Benevolent fund and making his first entrance at the patio doors rather than the front door, was excellent in handling this role and had complete control of the myriad of lines containing the most convoluted malapropisms with consummate ease. He expounded on his lack of judgement by accepting help, although grudgingly from his Constable Potter, beautifully played by Rachel Lawson whilst dressed as a Christmas Fairy, yet claiming all the credit for her ability to move the case in the right direction.

Ray Rumkee as the aristocratic Sir Walton Gates with his bumbling ways and loud guffaws of laughter kept the audience amused with his complete misunderstanding of anything going on in his house, whereas his wife, Grace, well played by Roselyn Shallcross showed her true colours as a gold digging second wife, intent on alienating the rest of the family in pursuit of her own selfish ambitions.

Emma Gates (Ellie Guy) daughter of Sir Walton by his first marriage was a spoiled young woman who appeared to be totally dependent on her very dashing boyfriend, James Washington (Danny Barr) until she found out that she would be disinherited by her step mother and then she slowly changed and became more aggressive giving us sight of her undoubted talent. The boyfriend James was a complete cad, seemed to have no thought for anyone except himself and although he was a previous friend to Grace and immediately took advantage of this. A good characterisation.

Andrew Collinson as the long lost brother Archie Gates was quietly villainous and demanding money that he said he should have even though he had been set up with a sheep farm in Australia. His role was well acted and he did manage to give a good impression of an Australian accent for the duration of the play. Morag McKay (Mandy Grimston) gave a good performance as the loyal but downtrodden secretary to Sir Walton never once revealing her true intentions until the last minutes of the play when she was uncovered as the murderer of Grace.

The whole complicated plot was confounded by Doris, Pratt’s ferret which was mislaid early on and only reappeared in the last moment, frightening Morag McKay who was overpowered and arrested.

The set was extremely good, tastefully decorated for Christmas, and it was a pleasant surprise to see doors being closed without the rest of the scenery moving. Costumes and lighting added to the show and were well organised with costume in particular being in the right period.

This society continues to produce good drama of a high standard and possesses a company of excellent talent.

I wonder if the ferret got the promotion for Pratt to Inspector.

 

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