Crime caper a crowdpleaser
‘‘DO you take me for a fool?’’ demands Inspector Pratt.
Well, there’s only one possible answer to that.
The selfdescribed ‘‘finely tuned crime detection machine’’ has come to Bagshot House to find out who murdered Mildred, the owner.
Inevitably, there are numerous suspects. Also inevitably, in the classic whodunit tradition, all of them have been leading some sort of double life, or have something else to hide.
It’s all too much for poor Pratt, whose efforts consist mostly of attempts to disguise his own ineptitude.
Common plot elements abound: the sherry runs out, a loaded gun goes missing. Who has been having affairs with whom, are the paintings real or fakes, and who will inherit the house?
But Murdered to Death, by
Murdered to Death
Fire Station Theatre, Mosgiel Wednesday, September 14
Peter Gordon, is less a standard murder mystery than a spoof on the genre. It’s highly entertaining, with malapropismrich dialogue, and repeated mistakes that don’t seem to lose their charm.
Characters include a retired colonel who is a walking cliche, an artist who isn’t as French as he seems, a glamorous young woman of indeterminate social standing, and (a nod to Agatha Christie) a littleoldlady amateur detective called Miss Maple.
Jasmine Rixon’s direction is proficient, and performances from each of the 10 actors inspired.
Especially good are Grant Miller as Bunting, the robotically servile and spectacularly inebriate butler; Tabitha Littlejohn as longsuffering, usually exasperated Constable Thomkins; and Matt Brennan as pompous, bungling Pratt.
Overall pace could be quickened slightly, to keep the production fresh and lively.
The set, depicting the interior of Bagshot Manor, and costumes by Judy Spillane and Jan Idour, are effective, and appropriate to the 1930s setting.
On Wednesday evening an audience of about 40 people, including the reviewer, gave every indication of thoroughly enjoying themselves.
The short season in the warm and welcoming Fire Station Theatre will run until Sunday.