REVIEWS

2021

“Cinderella” by Robert Edenborough

18th-20th November 2021

Director Belita Charrington

Audience reviews: “Thank you very, very much. We thoroughly enjoyed the evening. It was such fun. Happy times are here again! The spaced seating was very reassuring and appreciated too.”

“We had a really great time last night! We thought the fairy godmother, the sisters and Cinderella were very good! And the music was excellent. I also thought the children were great value and it was just so heartwarming to share in all wonderful things Panto has been doing for us for centuries. Lots of hard dedicated work on the part of all the cast and crew to make so many people happy, relaxed and full of affection for community /Claygate after such grim and joyless times. Literally a tonic!”

“Congratulations on bringing so many people together for what seemed to be a really happy show. The costumes/ props and settings were very good. The children very involved and animated… Maggie (Wrightson’s) costumes were so in keeping with the Panto too, with the  sisters looking particularly outrageous with all their different changes … lovely attention to detail.”

2019

“A Little Panto on the Prairie” by Richard Lock

7th , 8th  & 9th  November 2019

Director: Sue Wall                                                           Stage Manager: Ray Moss

One of my earliest theatre-going memories was a school trip to the Century theatre in Keswick to see Wind in the Sassafras Trees, a rip-roaring farce set in the Wild West, complete with every western movie cliché known to a fan of the genre. I recall being helpless with laughter and in seventh heaven.

I was reminded of this when watching A Little Panto on the Prairie, CDS’ early entry to the panto season, performed before a packed house clearly enjoying the on-stage antics of a large, enthusiastic cast giving it their all.

A hybrid of The Beverly Hillbillies, Calamity Jane and Oklahoma or so it seemed to me, the show was crammed with traditional stock characters, cheesy jokes and topical swipes, all the more successful and fun to watch by reason of the freshness of the setting and not one of the better known ‘classic’ pantos. 

It was clear from Jon Constant’s warm up that the audience was in the mood to have a good time and Ellen Fermie as Grandma, a dead ringer for Granny Clampett, duly delivered a strong introduction drawing everyone into the action and later holding the narrative together. This was followed by that most groanworthy of C&W songs ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ but delivered with musical aplomb by the five-piece band led by Derek Huff & Peter Whitehead with line dancing chorus in a colourful saloon setting.

There followed the usual pattern of meeting the principal characters with Ian Watson as the suitably simple but warm hearted village idiot, Frank Spencer…sorry Tumbleweed, Sam Helen in a riot of colour as Madame Moonshine, the panto Dame, Jo Stacey, also taking a leaf out of The Beverly Hillbillies as love interest Sandy (aka Elly May), Robert Edenborough as evil Sherriff Cactus Jack, filtering Gene Hackman from Unforgiven, with his Mexican ‘brokers’ henchmen Jose & Jose B, played with moustachioed relish by Juliet Bagnall & Jeff Peters.

Later we met ‘Principal Boy’ Susanne Tunnicliff as Buck the Cowboy, whose name in a running joke engendered much hilarity, his coconut clapping companion Silent Bob played by Greg Morton recycling Patsy from Monty Python & the Holy Grail, Liz Ness as the wonderfully off the wall Fairy Saddle-Sore and Steve Infield as the grammatically stunted Indian Chief.

Last but not least we had Ellen Wall, who scene stole the show as a surreal rabbit who thought it was a hare……or was it the other way around! A round of applause greeted her every scene.

The cast of principals was complemented by an excellent chorus in smaller roles and crowd scenes together with the happy, smiley faces of a young dance group from Impact Dance Studio bringing great energy to the opening number and ‘YMCA’ at the start of Act 2.   

Community panto wouldn’t be panto without mistakes and longueurs. It is more a matter of how the cast rises to the occasion, which they demonstrably did. It is worth mentioning though that pace can be improved by crisp entrances - one late entrance was turned to an advantage - speaking while crossing the stage rather than waiting to hit the mark, not throwing away lines (always come up with the voice at the end of a line) and not being hesitant over cues. Fast line runs in the latter stages of rehearsals often help. 

It was a pity there were technical issues with the image projection as this would have given depth to the design of various scenes, as the white rear wall was clearly intended for this purpose. Fortunately, the large and colourfully dressed cast (costumes by Margaret Wrightson & her team were super) generated a great deal of ‘business’, which didn’t leave the stage bare. Scene changes were kept short and well-engineered in front of half tabs. However, the lighting design & effects such as in the ‘Dream sequence’ were uneven. 

A couple of observational points. Be careful when lighting actors who are wearing hats, as these can obscure their faces. There were a few times when they were in shadow. Also, panto is timeless which is part of its charm. However, times change and what was acceptable in the past has increasingly and rightly become less so. Be careful therefore at discriminatory or gender-based jokes, perhaps included in a script written some while ago, that may generate a cheap laugh but which may also cause offence. 

Politicians though are fair game, so long as no one is left out!

A word for Sam Helen as an excellent Madame Moonshine around whom, literally, most of the action revolves. My understanding is that this was his first time as a Panto Dame, in which case he has a great future. My note about losing the ends of lines applies, try not to shuffle and do ‘cheat’ at facing forward to deliver lines to the front rather than in profile. However, if I had a disappointment it was only that Madame Moonshine wore just the one frock. I’d have loved to have seen her in an equally outrageous outfit (perhaps riding gear) in the second half.

Several scenes stood out such as Fairy Saddle-Sore’s entrance climbing out of the well, the  hobby horse ride in the desert, timing of the ‘Nuts’ joke, the Star Trek ‘Beam me up’ sequence and a genuinely moving ‘Endless Love’ duet between Sandy & Buck. In fact, congratulations to all the cast for putting over the well-chosen songs with brio and to the costumed band for their dextrous musical accompaniment.

The inventiveness of Sue Wall’s clever & witty direction was there to see. If there were areas which could have been worked on, this must be set against the amount of rehearsal time available and the sheer logistical nightmare of mounting a large scale and technically challenging panto in the shared environment of a multi occupied village hall. 

A final word of appreciation must go to the backstage and technical teams as well as the Front of House staff for making the evening go with a swing.

On behalf of the audience, thank you Claygate Dramatic Society for a super evening. 

Rodney Pearson

2019

 Claygate Dramatic Society

‘Who Killed the Ship’s Captain’ by A.P. Grozdanovich & C. Martin

Thursday 16thMay 2019

Claygate Village Hall

Director: Belita Charrington 

A murder mystery play with audience participation and a ploughman’s supper was on offer for a sleuthing evening’s entertainment.  The play is set in 1912, exactly three months after the fateful sinking of ‘The Titanic,’ aboard the Blue Triangle Shipping Company’s flagship ‘The Celebration’ about to dock at Southampton. The action takes place in the Passenger Lounge and here the brutal murder is committed.. One of the characters portrayed is the murderer and one is his or her accomplice. So, to solve the mystery! 

The hall was set in table form and we had the advantage of being a group of nine in front line, dead centre so no excuses to miss a clue!  

In-depth instructions for the audience were given by the period costumed Narrator, most efficiently played by Michelle Whitehead, who was also on the book. There were two intervals, so plenty of time to consume the delicious supper, refresh glasses, discuss clues with the other passengers, complete the Whodunnit Answer Paper and confer on answers for the Titanic/Mystery Quiz. A lot of teamwork here to produce well laid tables and the paperwork. 

The stage was neatly dressed using back projection of a passenger lounge – this technique gives such a professional look. Two trellis flats adorned with foliage stood either side, good seating, pedestal flower arrangements, statues, a ships side table, complete with filled decanter, a telescope, and searchlight – an overall look of elegance. The particularly good design was created by Ray Moss, who constructed with Society members, and was also ASM, SM duties were taken on by Liz Ness and the excellent props and flowers organised by Sue Wall and Ann Baulch.  

Each character introduced themselves, each having a possible motive for the demise of the unfortunate Captain Edward Pearson (Greg Moreton) – of mature years, good at his job, becoming increasingly stressed, with a growing addition to laudanum plus having an affair with his ‘very’ personal secretary Pamela (Jo Stace). Miss Pamela Davies is single, efficient, smart, attractive but an impatient woman. Will she wait for him? Mrs. Pearson (Jilly Moss) is on board, and she is desperate to get her husband to retire so she can ‘live’ again after waiting for homecomings from voyage to voyage. The Captain’s number two, CO William Earnshaw (Brian Hulme) is excellent at his job, is impatient for promotion which is regularly turned down, at the same time being browbeaten by social climbing wife Catherine (Kim Groom) trying to appease her parents, the renowned Sir Cyril and Lady Camille Entwistle. The Doctor aboard is Ian Jackson (Robert Edenborough)  – certainly respected onboard but appears to have a history which is about to catch up with him. Lastly, there is a jolly charmer Jack Bailey (George Marcall) the ship’s steward who we discover has lost relatives in the sinking of the Titanic and bears a grudge, for the Captain turned down the Titanic appointment and he would have saved the ship? So, six suspects with reason to dispatch the Captain.  Enter our two detectives DI Shirley Holmes played with gusto by Juliet Bagnall supported quietly by Ian Royce as Dr Witson, to unravel the mystery. 

The period costumes were well chosen by Maggie Wrightson,  mainly creams for the ladies – badminton being played -  most elegant striped outfit for Pamela with a pleasing elegant hairstyle, with good uniforms for the officers and steward complete with his starched linen. The tweedlook for our detectives, complete with deerstalker, magnifying glass and of course curly pipe.   

The established cast characterised well with various accents, and it was good to see new member Jo Stace making her stage debut, a natural, and hopefully returner. There was an element of humour well presented in the interpretation of Jack, particularly in his walk. Movement around the stage was well managed and the general pace kept up, despite some prompting along the way.

The direction was undertaken by experienced Belita Charrington who steered the company to the finale and the revelation of the two villains. Our table selected the two correct characters but unfortunately in the wrong order! Nevertheless, a very entertaining evening.    

2018

A Comedy Double Bill

‘Gilly’s Gem’ by Sandy Taylor & ‘The Worst Day of My Life’ by Alan Richardson

Directed by Sue Wall

22 - 24 November 2018

The latest production in CDS’s enterprising policy of programming two one-act plays with a supper interval proved a resounding success. It was clear from the convivial mood when entering the auditorium that the audience was there to enjoy an evening out. 

The evening began with a genteel, light comedy, ‘Gilly’s Gem’, by the prolific playwright and author of romantic fiction, Sandy Taylor. This piece gave character roles to Jilly Moss who played Millie (the live-in cleaner) in a charismatic performance, and Kim Groom (Peggy, the cleaning lady from downstairs) who rumble, and then thwart, a plot by wide-boy market trader pretending to be an antiques dealer, Barney Donaghy to skim an ‘investment’ from the kind hearted and less than worldly wise widow, Gilly, convincing conveyed by Liz Ness. Gill Robinson played her sharper tongued but still gullible sister, Anna.

Although written in 1996, ‘Gilly’s Gem’ hearkened back to a more innocent time where loyalty and place in society were more recognisable and the action could easily have taken place 20 or 30 years earlier. However far-fetched and a séance scene was a classic example, the success of such plays depends on the comedy being played truthfully and at a decent pace to overcome any disbelief.

It also helps to have a stylish, practical set cleverly designed by Ray Moss that filled the whole stage. It gave enormous credibility to the art deco flat where the action takes place. The cast brought their experience to bear in playing this style of comedy. Based around a strong central performance from Jilly Moss and with pacey direction and movement from Sue Wall, the audience were rewarded with an absorbing and entertaining first half of the evening.

There were some delightful touches to this production such as tipping the cigarette ash into a vase when no ashtray was to hand and topping up a gin bottle with water. There was also a lovely scene towards the end when Gilly is going through an expensive looking holiday brochure wanting to take Millie away on safari as a thank-you present. The look on Millie’s face was a picture, as she would rather lie on a beach! Interesting lighting changes at the appropriate moments were very convincing. The attention to detail was not lost and it made for an impressive first half. 

After a fish and chip supper interval, and a game of Bingo hosted by a ‘Hi-de-Hi like Susanne Tunnicliffe, a thoroughly relaxed audience was treated a farcical comedy ‘The Worst Day ofMy Life’by the popular Scottish playwright Alan Richardson. In testament to the play’s popularity, it is worth noting that there have been seven productions alone in the UK this year.

Belief was once more suspended but this time the lie was centred around Jon Constant as the hapless bigamist or should that be ‘trigamist’ whose carefully orchestrated world comes crashing down when his three ‘wives’ played with contrasting haughtiness, helplessness and sexiness by respectively Juliet Bagnall, Michelle Whitehead and Belita Charrington (all in superbly winning costumes) turn up at the same time to visit him in hospital. Interspersing the warring factions was Tanya De Vries as the nurse whose late announcement make the proceedings even more convoluted.

Another cleverly designed set by Ray Moss to convey a room on a hospital ward, strong playing by the cast in contrasting character roles with Jon Constant delightfully chameleon in a combination of innocence and guile as the philanderer hoist with his own petard (shades of ‘Boeing Boeing’), the protagonist ‘wives’ sparking off each other and Sue Wall’s direction generating the right amount of pace, it was hugely entertaining.

There was however a practical issue in this play with placing the bed in the centre at the rear of the stage. It meant that a great deal of the action was played towards the back with the consequent risk of losing audibility whenever an actor turned sideways or looked down. It also resulted from time to time with the actors caught in front of the bed and in a line across the stage. Although it was a logical place, it might have proved interesting to have tried the bed at an angle perhaps stage left, which would have brought it further down and given the actors more central space to work with without obscuring it.

As a general note applying to both plays, always remember to avoid speaking upstage and risk losing your voice in the space above and, when playing comedy, don’t play it for laughs but with the seriousness the situation demands and in which the characters find themselves. This will make it even funnier.

None of this detracted from two very enjoyable productions with the audience leaving fed, watered and entertained. It was clear from ticket sales and audience appreciation that there is a place and a demand for old fashioned comedy, provided it is done well. 

CDS delivered on all levels.  Thank you for a most enjoyable evening!

Rodney Pearson & Millie Hart

The Diamond Necklace

Written and directed by Juliet Bagnall

19th-21st April 2018

The Diamond Necklace, written and directed by Juliet Bagnall, delivered many surprises to the audience and not all related to the twists and turns of the plot. First surprise – the curtain opened and - no traditional set. Instead the audience were faced with 11 chairs set in a semi-circle with 4 microphone stands set in front. Enter an announcer, Sue Wall who, with classic BBC pronunciation, introduces the evening’s proceedings. We now realise we are in a “radio studio” populated by 11 actors, all in evening dress and all with scripts in hand. Set to the side of the chairs is the second surprise - a sound effects table containing various objects and manned by 2 “crew” who are surrounded by three microphones to pick up their fabricated sounds.

Now at this point you could be forgiven for thinking why are we watching a “radio” play which takes place on a stage. It means we see the actors holding their scripts (no difficulty in line learning then?) which potentially creates a sterile and very static environment with no movement to speak of - apart from the need to get up and deliver the lines into the microphone. I say deliver, but being “radio”, the lines can be read of course straight from the script.

In a sense then, we the audience, are challenged to have the right frame of mind to accept this device, to join in the fun of following the spoken word and to use our imagination to flesh out the background. And the reward for accepting this device? To witness a very funny comedy-thriller played out in 1950’s radio style with an intriguing, but wonderfully implausible plot, extremely fast moving action and all providing a really splendid spoof on the style of Paul Temple radio thrillers.

The play works on largely two different levels. First, there’s the straight forward telling of a rip-roaring story in classic thriller tradition. Second, there’s the laughs arising from the sound effects made by the “technicians” who follow the action of the plot and provide appropriate background noises from a range of intriguing and surprising props.

For me, however, the main “stars” of this production were the writing and the sound effects. This was an original script written by Juliet Bagnall, who also directed the play, and who clearly demonstrates she has an ear for the dialogue of the radio thriller genre . This was well crafted and skilled writing – creating a fast moving plot covering many imaginative locations – and achieving an excellent parody of this style of thriller writing. And yes, act one ends with the discovery of a body (but not the one we thought) while act two begins with an amusing recap from the continuity announcer “the story so far……”. Splendid stuff.

The accompanying sound was also instrumental to the success of the evening – both seen and unseen. As to the “seen” on-stage sound effects, Belita Charrington and Ann Baulch gave us some very funny moments – such as the sound of placing the phone receiver back in the cradle, pouring drinks and the clinking of glasses. The sounds became even more imaginative in their creation and I especially liked the rope around the dustbin being tightened to create the illusion of a boat being moored (and stirring the water in the same dustbin to create river sounds). I was also amused by the use of a fire bucket handle to simulate the sound of a deadbolt locking. Perhaps the biggest laugh was when Belita, after creating the sound of champagne being poured into a glass, had a quick sip herself.

And, of course, the unseen sound effects of Colin Hansford were equally important and these clearly added to the dramatic tension. We heard the sounds of background chatter in bars, a car crash, a ticking time bomb, an explosion as well as many punctuations with thriller-type suspense music.

And what of the actors? Well, given the play is plot driven and not concerned with character development, there was by necessity a reliance on the stock characters you’d expect to hear in a spoof radio thriller of the 1950’s. So we had our heroes, the intrepid husband and wife amateur detective team, played here adeptly by Robert Edenborough and Liz Ness. They kept us fully involved in the twists and turns of the plot and I enjoyed the contrast between the characters - Robert’s cautious and considered approach contrasting well with Liz’s nothing-will-stop-me enthusiasm. The Scotland Yard investigators were played by Brian Hulme and Nigel Stock who both gave an excellent parody of the rather slow thinking but methodical police approach which was straight out of a Francis Durbridge radio thriller.

Cameo performances which stood out for me included Gill Robinson’s milliner, Sue Wall as our heroine’s best friend and indeed Steve Infield’s various roles. His London cabbie was spot on and his sleazy night club owner particularly well observed given the character was an East-End lad trying to impersonate a native Italian. Jilly Moss also gave a versatile performance in the part of Dorothy - a sort of gangster’s moll with a heart of gold. Good performances as well from a villainous Ian Royce and by Frank Brierley as his set-up cousin. Other players in this fine Claygate ensemble included Tanya de Vries and Kim Groom and I can only admire the energy put into this production by cast and crew alike.

However, one aspect of the production which I thought could be improved was in the timing of the lines. Given the dialogue was read from the script, I would have thought this would have created the opportunity to weigh the words more carefully and time their delivery more effectively. As a result, there were moments when the pace dipped. I also felt, in an otherwise excellent script, that the plot in act two could have been tighter and that, at the end, there seemed too much explanation of plot in tying up the loose ends.

Overall, I have to say that Juliet Bagnall’s production created an evening which was much enjoyed by the audience at the Thursday evening performance I attended. The cabaret style layout with tables for the audience (complete with a Gill Ovington chicken supper) meant the evening became more of an event than just a play and created a pleasant social atmosphere. Well done to all involved in creating an excellent evening’s entertainment.

Steve Makrell

2016

You really had to arrive with the right mind-set to get into the spirit of this comedy thriller with its implausible but fast moving plot, creaky jokes, quick character changes and inventive but minimalist representational set. Of course, it’s all a splendid spoof on John Buchan’s classic novel “The 39 Steps” but more especially the 1935 film version directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

This comic version, adapted by Patrick Barlow in 2006, ran successfully in the West End and used only four actors to cover the thirty-odd different characters portrayed. This means the play can work on a number of different levels. Firstly, there’s the straight forward telling of Buchan’s rip-roaring story. Secondly, there are the laughs from seeing the manic attempts of the cast to create a series of fast changing and representational sets for the action and finally, the laughs from seeing the actors valiantly switching characters while struggling with quick costume changes.

Director Liz Ness had to face a number of hurdles in bringing this production to the Claygate stage. There had been some difficulties in casting the original production scheduled for September and “The 39 Steps” came in as a very late replacement. So congratulations must go first and foremost to Liz for managing to get the show together and up and running on stage. Liz also had to step in herself as an actor at very short notice since Jilly Moss (Mr. Memory among many other parts) had to undergo an unexpected major operation a few days before opening night. Jilly, a long-time member of the Society is now recovering well and we all wish her well.

Despite these setbacks, Liz nevertheless created an evening which appeared to be much enjoyed by the audience at the Thursday evening performance I attended. The creation of a cabaret style layout with tables for the audience (complete with a “ploughman’s” supper) meant the evening became more of an event than just a play and it created a pleasant social atmosphere.

Liz marshalled her crew with excellent precision and I must start by complementing the production on the quality of its sound, lighting and stage management. There were an extraordinary number of sound and lighting cues (unfortunately no names were credited in the programme) which to my ear and eyes were executed seamlessly. During the scene in the Professor’s study, the noise of music intruding from the next room each time the door was opened, was beautifully timed. Overall, the choice of music was excellent including the opening Dick Barton type music and all the subsequent tension-building thriller music. I also thought Tina Mastrocola managed her backstage crew expertly and they all showed great agility in choreographing the many fast moving set changes. The set was also remarkably inventive in its simplicity – I especially liked the Forth Bridge (two step ladders and a plank), Waverley Station and the flying aeroplane. I also enjoyed the two-sided revolving door, the sheep in the road and the hand-held window frames – corny but funny. So what to make of this production? Interestingly, as already mentioned above, in the original spoof there were only four actors to play the thirty-odd parts. In this version there were nine – more actors meaning less doubling-up. Yet the doubling-up was one of the fun elements of the original production and I felt that, with nine actors, the humour involved in the quick and frequent changes of character and costume were somewhat diluted. Indeed, I found the humour of these frantic changes only really came alive later in the show when Robert Edenborough magically changed from the dour Scottish Sheriff to the inarticulate politician MacQuarrie.

Yes – there were some good laughs – but also a few cringes. But of the gags my favourite was, after a bible in our hero’s breast pocket stopped a bullet aimed at his heart, the Scottish Sheriff says “Some of these hymns are terribly hard to get through." As for the acting, Brian Hulme was suitably droll as the unflappable hero (Richard Hannay), complete with stiff upper lip, and I especially enjoyed his patriotic rant accompanied by “Jerusalem” playing in the background. Belita Charrington (Pamela) put a great deal of energy into her performance and the scene where she removed her stockings while handcuffed to Hannay was very funny. However, I would have liked to have seen rather more chemistry in the relationship between Pamela and Hannay. Among the individual performances I particularly enjoyed Juliet Bagnall’s numerous roles and especially her Mr. Memory (including an amazing delivery of a long and complex scientific formula), the Scottish hotel keeper Mrs. McGarrigle and the crofter’s wife Margaret. The scene in the crofter’s cottage between Margaret and Hanney worked extremely well. Of the six roles undertaken by Robert Edenborough I thought his funniest interpretations were the Scottish crofter and the Professor, complete with fez, smoking jacket and cigarette holder.

Among the many characters portrayed I also enjoyed Liz Ness as the maid Mrs. Higgins with her silent scream, when discovering a dead body, coinciding with the dramatic sound of a thundering steam train. Newcomer to CDS, Louise Fox, played the femme fatale spy with a great degree of fun and a wonderfully suitable foreign accent. A series of other characters were played with great gusto by Kim Groom and Nick Stock and the voice of Sue Wall came across as a very proper BBC radio announcer. Finally, I’m sure I also glimpsed a sight of Bobbie Watson on the platform at Waverley Station.

A lot of energy was put into this production by cast and crew and the evening worked well. However, there were moments when the pace dropped but this is an extremely difficult production to mount. Rather like farce – by which I mean a play involving stock characterisation and a ludicrously improbable plot – it takes a huge amount of rehearsal time to get the timing absolutely right. While I feel the technical aspects of sound and lighting were excellent I felt the acting was, at times, over-played and needed to be more polished. Did the audience enjoy it? I’m pretty sure the answer to that is a resounding yes.

Steve Mackrell, 17 September 2016

Claygate Dramatic Society’s production of “Who Killed the Vicar,” by Chris Martin, was not so much a play in the traditional sense but more of an inter-active game played out between the audience and the cast. Indeed, the evening was promoted as a “murder mystery” with a fish and chip supper. The audience were seated at tables (named after TV and film detectives) in groups of up to eight per table. Comprehensive paperwork was provided including a list describing the possible suspects, a “whodunnit” answer sheet to name the murderer and their accomplice plus, for good measure, a quiz. I have to say that this gave the hall a very convivial atmosphere and an expectation of great fun to come.

The format of the evening was well constructed – the first act introduced each of the murder suspects who gave explanations of their possible motives. This was followed by the build-up to the dastardly deed itself. There then followed a 30 minute interval (with fish and chips) during which each table considered and discussed who exactly could possibly have “dunnit.” The second act introduced the two investigators who interviewed all the suspects but – before they revealed all – there was a ten minute interval for the audience to finalise their “whodunnit” answers which were then collected from each table. Finally, in act three, all is theatrically revealed by the sleuths to the accompaniment of various “oohs” and “ahhs” from both cast and audience. And to finish the evening our Master of Ceremonies, Susanne Tunnicliff, announced the name of the winning table who had correctly guessed the outcome and yes – there were prizes for the winners. An interesting and very different format to the usual productions we see at the theatre.

As for the play itself – by definition it had to be clearly formulaic driven with a ludicrously contorted plot which rammed in as many clues and red herrings as possible. Nevertheless, it delivered what the format required – a dead body, six suspects and a host of motives for the audience to ponder. On the downside however, I found the script spectacularly unfunny – as an example I recall one particularly excruciating line delivered by the church organist who despairs that “his organ was in a terrible state.” Nevertheless, even this tired humour failed to dim audience enthusiasm who seemed to remain faithful to the concept of the evening. In a sense we were experiencing a theatrical version of the game Cluedo – which also has six suspects – and in which we are required to solve a crime by deducing that it was carried out by the equivalent, so to speak, of Professor Plum in the Conservatory with a lead pipe.

So what of the production?. I think director Belita Charrington played it exactly right – the style was deliberately over-played and for me was reminiscent of an old fashioned melodrama full of larger than life characters. For example, I especially liked the opening fifteen minutes where each character directly addresses the audience with a brief explanation of their raison d’etre, after which they assume a fixed pose gazing out at the audience. Again, in the scene where the sleuths are summing-up who could have “dunnit” – there were some wonderful over-the-top reactions by the suspects which all added to the enjoyment of the piece. There were also some good performances to sustain our interest and it’s always good to see so many CDS stalwarts on stage. Juliet Bagnall, as narrator, opened the play and introduced us to the prospects ahead. Our murder victim, played by Brian Hulme as the vicar, made an appropriate “man of the cloth,” striking a believable figure as a hesitant and rather fuddy-duddy father figure.

Of the suspects, I particularly enjoyed Liz Ness as the housekeeper fussing over her tea making and wonderfully clad in slippers and pinny. Jilly Moss made for a formidable matriarch as the local do-gooder excelling at making the best jam tarts in the village. Of all the suspects, I felt the character of the church organist, a serial groper, was the least stereotypical and therefore the most difficult to portray, but Ian Royce did a sterling job in giving substance to the role. The local scoutmaster, Greg Moreton, managed to get most of the laughs while Alexander Anderson made an excellently funny curate - his mannerisms were amusing and he was directed in a way that was both camp and awkward at the same time. I understand Alexander took on this role at very short notice so congratulations must go to him for taking on the part. Congratulations also to the youngest performer, Rowan Moreton, who made a very credible interpretation of her role as the “outsider” in the form of a passing rambler. I should add that all the cast coped extremely well with what were some very improbable lines.

As for the sleuths, it was good to see Robert Edenborough in fine form again – this time as a rather dim-witted and plodding detective-inspector. However, I thought the strongest performance was from Vicky Mastrocola as the Bishop’s envoy. She held the stage well, looked very confident and turned in a robust performance. I should add that in the sleuth’s summing up, both characters had to recite a long resume of possible motives and red herrings which was accomplished magnificently.

So – what not to like? Well, given this was the first public performance on Thursday, there were a number of errors. Firstly, there were too many prompts. Secondly, I sensed somewhat of a technical faux pas in the murder scene – an explosive sound effect which didn’t happen combined with a lighting error at the critical point. I’m sure these technical glitches will be sorted out by the Friday performance given the experience of Mikey Helen and Nick Stock. More difficult to correct is possibly some of the comedy scenes which I felt simply didn’t work. For example, the comedy timing seemed hopelessly amiss in the scene where the organist is frightened (by an imaginary bomb) into revealing he doesn’t really have an injured foot.

ever, returning to the positives, I found the set excellent and congratulations must go to Ray Moss for his design and his team for the set build. I thought the attention to detail on the set was first class. Maggie Wrightson again excelled with wardrobe and I found all the costumes appropriate to their characters. As mentioned earlier, Belita Charrington’s direction was in keeping with the style of the murder mystery genre and she kept the pace of the production at full tilt throughout the performance. The few misgivings I had were greatly outweighed by an enthusiastic and, it seemed to me, happy audience.

Despite some critical shortcomings, this production lived up to its billing as a murder mystery. It was a very competent production and gave the audience exactly what they paid to see. This could be a format that could be used successfully again in the future, given the enthusiasm with which it was greeted by a more than satisfied audience. Well done to all involved.

Steve Mackrell 29 April 2016