The Mirror Cracked

I absolutely love the variety of plays that Allerton Players choose for productions with my recent visits including Nell Gwynn and a detective mystery including Aliens. It was therefore lovely to receive an invite to The Mirror Cracked, a classic Agatha Christie “who done it”. It was great to see the Forum packed, a testament to the quality and success of their recent productions.

The set was well laid out with an angled box set maximising the width and space on the stage available. Clever and period pieces of furniture allowed swift movement between scenes well managed by cast members, including Simon Gibson as Film Set crew, who remained in the scenes allowing the pace of the production to flow at ease. The one main tech moment well timed with a falling light having me jumping out of my seat.

Much of the play is set in the cottage of Miss Marple as, called upon by her friend and Chief Inspector Craddock, she meddles and interferes to help him delve into the unresolved murder of Heather Leigh at a big Hollywood Movie Set Party. The play mostly uses flashbacks to take us through the plot and Director Deborah Hugill made great use of the space and clever lighting to focus on these scenes without the need for long pauses in the action. I loved the use of the central door at the back which acted as a frame for each suspect when being discussed. The bright light behind this really drew focus on these well-timed and split-second appearances.

Nearly everyone, Miss Marple and the Inspector aside, are considered suspects and every cast member was heavily involved throughout albeit nowhere near as much as Christine Trenholm as Jane Marple herself. I have seen Christine in several shows however this was a standout performance for her. She captured all the wonderful mannerisms of Miss Marple perfectly, her conversational tone perfectly disguising the meddling, nosey behaviour as she drew the suspects in to giving more away than planned. Despite being chair bound for most of the play she still gave us wonderful stage presence and for a wordy role kept the dialogue flowing at ease.

Her relationship with the Inspector, played excellently by Richard Broadley was heartwarming, the friendship matching the working relationship with just the right balance. Richard managed the slightly weak and pushed about Inspector really well, appearing to be in control yet all the time evidently being led by Jane Marple herself.

Despite the investigation being around the murder of Mrs Leigh it became apparent that the intended target was in fact a famous Actress, Marina Gregg played with great strength and attitude by Katie Bowie. Interacting with every suspect throughout the play Katie yet again showed how good an actress she is, keeping the stiff upper lip when required yet equally switching to a vulnerable and deceitful character when the plot thickened. Katie managed the whole play without once dropping her guard, even her emotional scenes appearing to hide a deeper sub-plot.

Throughout the flashbacks we get drawn into her relationship with all the main suspects and in two close connections Allerton players brought back two past members, Ewan McNulty (Mrs Gregg’s husband) and Laura Reynolds (a rival fellow actress). Both members really owned their characters with Ewan giving us a lovely controlling and blunt Film Director, incredibly sheepish when quizzed and demonstrating a very short fuse instantly making him a main suspect.       Laura Reynolds gave us a lovely versatile character; panicky and a bit frantic at times yet giving us a tender side upon her true identity revelation.

As the flashbacks took us to different settings including the film set and Gossington Hall we met and became curious over many more characters present at the murder, and subsequent murder attempts. Ella Zielinsky, Miss Gregg’s assistant, was well played by Alison Parker, her constant sneezing and controlling behaviour giving her a suspicious edge. The Italian butler and long-term companion of Miss Gregg was played with real spirit by Peter De Cosemo, his accent and mannerisms perfect for the role and his constant meddling and reactions definitely had him as a front runner until his own demise.

The two characters never under suspicion were Mr and Mrs Leigh played by Andrew Hugill and Sarah Hunter respectively. Sarah Hunter, as the murdered Mrs Leigh appeared in the constantly repeated death scene keeping great control to mirror her dialogue and actions perfectly each time it was re-shown. I loved how Andrew Hugill played the hen-pecked and newly widowed Mr Leigh, his whole downbeat demeanor perfect for the role and his constant ignored interruptions were fantastic, becoming more and more anxious and frantic as the play developed.

Despite being close aides of Miss Marple throughout the play I still could not rule out her good friend Dolly Pantry or her home help Cherry Baker as the murderer. Olwyn Richardson returning to Allerton Players with a knockout performance as the snobby and nosey neighbour. Trying to keep up her well to do façade and only showing us the softer side when confessing her own issues to her good friend, a great performance.

The home-helper, I have to be honest, was my suspect from the start and this is a testament to how well Kate Staines played this role. Despite jumping in and out of scenes, her whole characterization with nervous and scatty behaviour always led me to believe she was hiding something. It turned out that she was, however, just not what I was thinking!

What made this Agatha Christie work was that despite being set in the 50’s it felt modern and current, the cast engaged together so well and none of them ever dropped their guard. Huge credit must go to Deborah Hugill for managing so many cast members on a busy stage yet always keeping the focus on the action.

I must confess to being one of those annoying people at home when watching these films who permanently shout out who did it and why, frustrating everyone around me. Well, Allerton Players you completely threw me as even up to the confession I was still adamant I had it right. To quote the great Miss Marple herself, “Nobody is ever just one thing”, and this cast managed to do just that with some great acting and characterization keeping the whole audience on the edge of their seats. I can’t wait to see what you all have in store for 2025.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.