The Moonstone

The Moonstone was written by Wilkie Collins, who was a lifelong friend of Charles Dickens. In 1868 in Dickens journal “All The Year Round” The Moonstone was serialised and became known as the world’s first detective story. The basic premise of the story is the attempt of Hindu priests to protect a mysterious valuable diamond which holds significant religious meaning, as it finds its way to an English estate whereby it is given as a gift to the young lady of the house on her 18th birthday. Suspiciously though, during the night after the birthday party, the gem disappears and suspicions fall upon several of the guests present including the maid of the house and the Hindu jugglers that had been seen in the area.

This was an incredibly well developed and beautifully paced piece of theatre. Very simple staging and lighting drew the audience in every scene portrayed which had a ghostly feel about it, especially as the narrators stepped forward into the spotlights to speak, it was almost like we were experiencing echoes from the past.

Stu Gordon played Betteridge the head housekeeper of the Verinder estate. This was a quite simply excellent performance. You listened intently to every word delivered, and Stu has incredibly warm personality, almost like a grandparent speaking to a grandchild.

Franklin Blake was played by Brian Diamond. This was indeed another top quality performance. Brian commanded your attention whenever he was on stage and cut through the immense amount of script with ease.

Taz Bennison gave a very memorable performance as Drusilla Clack, Taz’s delivery, was exquisite and this character was quirky, yet well balanced.

Lady Julia Verinder, also doubling as a landlady was brought to us by Rachel Brewin. This was yet again, another high quality, well portrayed character from someone who is more than comfortable on stage.

Godfrey Ablewhite, vying for the affections of the young lady of the house was played by Leigh Dawson. This was yet again another outstanding performance as Leigh manoeuvred through the complexities of this character.

Sergeant Cuff also doubling as Herncastle, Simon Twine, brought a convincing level of enthusiasm to a detective, desperate to solve the crime.

Rosanna Spearman, the head maid who meets an unfortunate end in quicksand was delightfully played by Nicole Smith. Nicole took the audience on Rosanna’s journey with great emotion.

Howard Russell, as Bruff and as Candy was very much at ease in the dual role with a lovely delivery style.

Lucy Hewitt played Rachel Verinder who was gifted the gem at her 18th birthday party. The last time I saw Lucy perform was as a young child in Annie. It was delightful to see her grow into a very confident and capable performer.

Adam Churchman was excellent as Jennings who devises the experiment that will attempt to bring a conclusion to the mystery. A very relaxed and easy to watch performance.

Matt Lorentz gave me a John Hannay vibe as Murthwaite with splendid diction and quite marvellous raised eyebrow.

Mo Siddique was the lead of the Indian guards and also Ablewhite Snr. It was nice to see Mo hold his own with some strong actors around him.

The company was made up by some smaller but no less significant roles that interjected throughout the piece. Sam Woodward was dark and menacing as Luker and Becca Millard as Penelope brought a very calm and precise performance.  

Laurie Toczek directed this very precise piece of theatre. Every transition was seamless and kept the pace moving which never allowed the audience to switch off.

Congratulations should go to the Wardrobe Team as the costumes, including hair and make up where in keeping with the period and added to the experience.

Overall this was a great production. Having to complete with a rock concert only 100 metres away would have put many people off but every actor remained focused.

My sincere thanks go to everyone involved and to the warm welcome given to myself and my wife.

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