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Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
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A merry mystery to one and all
Interview for Murder Swan Theatre Amateur Company Worcester Arts Workshop *** THE well-trodden formula of Swan Theatre
Amateur Company’s festive murder mystery has become somewhat of a
Christmas tradition. Now in its 11th
year, with each play written by Angela Lanyon, the idea is simple,
The first act sets the scene leading to a moment
of high drama with screams and cries offstage, which we all know means
that one of the characters is now a much lamented, deceased dramatis
persona – and one member of the cast can spend the second act in the
bar. During the interval the audience, enjoying the
supper part of the performance, have to work out who has been murdered,
who did the killing, what was the motive and how was the unfortunate
cast member dispatched? Entry forms are filled in, collected and the
person who manages to come closest wins a prize at the end. All of which means that the first act has a more
attentive audience than usual while the second act has more groans and
sighs of exasperation than is the norm as surviving members of the cast
reappears very much alive, which is more than can be said of the entries
that had he or she being pushed into a combine harvester by a
transvestite nun disguised as the vicar. A reasonable theory I thought. The result is perhaps a slightly contrived plot
and a laboured opening act as each character is introduced with just
enough background to titivate without being enough to form more than an
opinion. Then we have to have enough hints of plots,
sub-plots, sub-sub-plots and red herrings to give imaginations free
rein. Ideally each character should have a reason to
There was Sheila Garton, played with a cut glass
accent by Ruth Butler, the Garton of Garton Green, a minor stately home
open to the public, who is about to interview for an operations manager.
She likes ordering people about and apportioning blame well away from
herself. Old hands at Garton Green, Sheila Garton (Ruth Butler) and her housekeeper Ivy Wellington Then there is Martin Cooper, one of the
interviewees, played by Matt Fearnly, who is the manager of a local
leisure centre and who has a reputation as . . . well we never quite
know. He is ex-army, pompous, has an unfounded high opinion of himself
and looks down on everyone else, and not just in attitude; Martin is a
tall bloke which gave the added interest every entrance of whether he
was going to bang his head on the roof of the low Arts Workshop stage.
Sheila and Martin would be prime candidates for the chop in any play. Acting operations manager Kate Gardener, played
by Kirsty Baxter, was a shoe-in for the job, but refused to take it,
hating working directly under Sheila. She is a model of efficiency,
which is more than can be said of the administrator, Giles Price, played
by STAC regular Ian Mason. He is a bumbler, doing everything but not always
as it should be done, while Dan Morris, who already works at
Garton Green has also applied for the job of operations manager even
though Sheila, and even Kate, do not think he is suitable. He is a bit
of a fly-boy, ready with excuses, who has a reputation, never quite
explained, when it comes to dealing with cash. He has been around Garton
since he was a lad and claims to know every inch. Another applicant for the job is Ivy Wellington,
played in a solid West Country accent by Fran Leighton, the house keeper
who has been at Garton Green forever. She feels she deserves the job as
she knows the house and grounds better than anyone, yet knows Shelia
does not want her as anything more than housekeeper. Finally there is the mysterious store detective
Jackie Donaldson, another outside applicant, played by Sally Metcalfe,
who has her own mysterious past which has links with Garton Green, and a
dead father, a past which is known by Dan, Giles and Ivy who recognised
her but never explain why . . . Throw in a big delivery which had never been
properly checked off, a workshop left unlocked, Reg the handyman
up on the roof cleaning the gutters, two threats to walk out and two
applicants who are less than impressed by the whole set up and you have
enough permutations of who did what to who to keep the audience occupied
for a week of meals. All they needed to do was pick a pair of runners
then decide on a why. The who is revealed at the start of Act 2 with
the why, after a few red herrings of course, finally revealed at the
end. I won’t tell you who killed who and why, except
it wasn’t the transvestite nun . . . maybe next year . . . STAC have moved on from the Swan Theatre studio
to the bowels of the city in the Arts Workshop with a lovely vaulted bar
and serving area, the venue may have changed but the format is
reassuringly the same, splendid, festive fun. To 07-12-13. Roger Clarke |
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kill
or be killed and in this latest mystery we had a couple the audience
could happily have done in themselves.