Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Thursday 5th November 2015
The Therry Dramatic Society ends its year with the Leslie Darbon stage adaptation of
Agatha Christie's,
A Murder is Announced, in the very capable hands of the highly experienced actor and director, Ian Rigney. It was fortunate that such a capable person was in charge, as only three of the original eleven people cast made it to the performance. We have all suffered from cast members pulling out for one reason or another but it rarely gets to this level. Only a few days before opening night it was necessary to replace the person playing the lead character, Leticia Blackwood, with Nikki Fort stepping into the role. More on that later. Faced with all of those challenges, Rigney has done a superb job of bringing this murder mystery to the stage.
Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple are undoubtedly the best known and most loved sleuths to come out of her 19 plays, 78 thrillers, and over 100 short stories, and this play features the latter of the two, which should attract her many fans, along with one of the smarter members of the police force, Inspector Craddock.
Letitia Blacklock is bewildered when the villagers of Chipping Cleghorn read, in the personal column of their local paper, an announcement that a murder will be committed and inviting them to her home. "A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29th, at Little Paddocks, at 6:30 p.m. Friends accept this, the only intimation." it read She knows nothing about it, and nobody admits to placing the piece in the paper. That evening her residents, friends and a couple of curious neighbours arrive thinking that it is a joke, an excuse for a party, or some sort of game and, to their horror, a real murder is committed. Rudi Schertz, a young man whom they vaguely know, is shot when the lights suddenly go out.
Fortunately, Miss Marple and Inspector Craddock turn up to solve the puzzle. While others seek a simple answer, initially accusing the deceased of setting up the evening to carry out a robbery, which then went awry resulting in him accidentally shooting himself, the inspector and Miss Marple soon suspect that it is much more complicated and has something to do with the late Randall Goedler, a wealthy industrialist who had died 10 years earlier and for whom Leticia had once worked
In true Christie style, there are more red herrings than a super-trawler could carry, and a couple of bits of information brought to light at the end of the investigation that only Miss Marple has observed, and understood their importance, to help her realise how all the pieces go together. As usual with Christie's mysteries, not everybody is who and what they claim to be.
As mentioned earlier, Nikki Fort took on the lead role as Letitia Blacklock, a role in which she is on stage for almost all of the play, with only that few days to prepare. Even cast members assumed that she would perform script in hand but, far from it. She had not only memorised the entire script, and all of the blocking, but had created a fully developed and thoroughly believable character. One would assume, unless told, that she had been rehearsing for weeks, along with the others. She deserves great credit for this feat but, more so, for a marvellous performance in its own right, completely embracing the role of Leticia and establishing a great rapport with the other characters, giving the work the authenticity needed for a Christie mystery.
A number of people are staying at Leticia's home, including her close companion, an old and dear friend with a failing memory, the rather dotty Dora "Bunny" Bunner, a role that fell to one of Adelaide's theatre stalwarts, Jude Brennan, who plays the character with great skill, avoiding the trap of going over the top and becoming a caricature, providing instead a person to whom we can relate and with whom we can sympathise, whilst still laughing at the comedy provided.
Brother and sister, Patrick and Julia Simmons, played by Wesley van Gelderen and Laura Antoniazzi, are also guests at Little Paddocks. Although Leticia is their aunt, they have not seen each other for many years, living a long way away. Antoniazzi and van Gelderen establish a good working relationship as the amiable siblings, both giving convincing performances. Antoniazzi, in particular, has been creating some notable performances recently and is a rising star to keep an eye on.
The attractive, widowed young mother, Phillipa Haymes, is played by Olivia Lilburn, who brings a charm and refinement to the character. Left with no financial security, Phillipa still has her pride, and Lilburn negotiates all of the complexities of the character in an authentic interpretation of the role.
Zoë Dibb plays Mitzi Kosinski, the ever complaining maid with the overactive imagination, who claims to have escaped from behind the iron curtain and is constantly on the alert for persecutors who might be trying to track her down and take her back. Dibb gives us a quirky, larger than life Hungarian and pulls in plenty of laughs in the process.
The nosey neighbour, Clara Swettenham, and the son she drags in her wake, Edmund, are played by Melinda Pike and
Patrick Clements. Clara is the typical busybody, inventing feeble excuses for dropping in on people, ridiculously assuming that her attempts at subterfuge ensure that nobody notices her inquisitiveness. Pike provides the comic relief with this character, sticking her nose into other peoples business without knowing what is happening right under that nose. Edmund has fallen for Phillipa and has asked her to marry him. Clements gives a fine performance as the young man trying to escape his mother's apron strings.
Lindsay Dunn is a commanding presence as Inspector Craddock, taking charge and allowing no nonsense from those present on the night of the murder. Dunn brings a powerful bearing to the role, convincing as somebody who has spent many years investigating crimes and dealing with less than honest people. Stanley Tuck has two minor roles, as the short-lived Rudi Schertz and as Craddock's assistant, Sgt Mellors.
Anna Pike takes the role of Miss Marple, a relatively small role as, in order to place the play in the one room, all of the involvement of Miss Marple in the book that takes place in numerous other locations has to be cut. It is rather disappointing, therefore, that she seems to have considerable trouble with her few lines. Hopefully she will spend time with her script and pick up in later performances.
Do your best to follow the clues, and discount the various false leads, as you try to work out 'whodunnit' and attempt to outsmart
Agatha Christie by guessing correctly. This is an entertaining evening for all the family and especially fans of Miss Marple.
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