Murder hunt that’s game for a laugh
Most of us are old enough to remember the murder mystery game Cluedo and a new play based on the game at the Theatre Royal, Bath this week had the audience laughing out loud in places.
Michelle Collins, well known for her TV roles including as Cindy Beale in Eastenders, stars as one of a cast of eccentric and slightly mad guests at a country house where a murder, or several murders take place.
Murder mystery is such an English pursuit, we simply love it.
The idea of gathering a group of eccentric people in a big house in the country and then trying to identify the murderer is a distinctly British tradition and writer Sandy Rustin has made the most of this.
The set on this touring production is wonderfully clever and atmospheric.
Those familiar with the board game will know in Cluedo you have to go from room to room looking for clues and designer David Farley has made this the centre of this production.
It is a monumental task, each room folds into another, the hall becomes the dining room seamlessly as the ensemble cast hilariously move from room to room with spectacular choreography and time perfect movement.
It is oddly very funny and glib in places.
Jean-luke Worrell as the scheming and agile butler Wadsworth steals the show, you cannot take your eyes off him.
The writers have evoked the stereotypical characters from the original game, Professor Plum, Miss Scarlett, Colonel Mustard, Mrs White, Mrs Peacock and Reverend Green.
The action takes place in a country manor house, not too far from London, one dark and stormy evening in 1949.
It starts when one by one each guest arrives in a heavy storm of thunder and lightning only to be greeted by the ever prominent butler Wadsworth.
Why have they been invited here by Lord Boddy? What follows is a somtimes hilarious and slapstick comedy as dead bodies multiply and as this motley crew of dinner guests dance from room to room with their murder weapons we the audience are not quite sure what is going on or who the murderer is.
But that is not the point of this new play directed by Mark Bell.
It is a modern take on a very old and loved British tradition, it is a good laugh and it is at times brilliantly choreographed with some very effective dramatic techniques such as mime, freeze frame and impeccable movement.
It is an exhausting performance by an excellent cast.
Judith Amsenga also shines as the eccentric old bat Mrs Peacock and some of the lines in this clever script are delivered with perfect comic timing.
Cluedo is a good old fashioned laugh, some would say a clever bit of nonsense, with a great set and choreography and will be a nostalgic trip down memory lane for some audience members in Bath.
Cluedo continues at the Theatre Royal, Bath until Saturday (April 30).
For tickets visit www.theatreroyal. org.uk or ring the box office on 01225 448844.