Murdered to Death
By Peter Gordon
Dates performed: 16th - 19th November 2022

Director: Becky Davis

Stage Managers: Rick and Nancy Adams

Above: (Left to right) Margaret Craddock (Rowena Atkinson); Col. Charles Craddock (Alan Carpenter); Inspector Pratt (Chris Baines);
Dorothy Foxton (Elizabeth Turner); Bunting (Martin Drummond); Elizabeth Hartley-Trumpington (Becky Davis)
Constable Tomkins (David Percival); Pierre Marceau (David Atkinson); Joan Maple (Heather Carpenter)

Below: Dorothy Foxton (Elizabeth Turner); Mildred Bagshot (Elaine Skelly)

 

Review by Sue Dupont ~ NODA

With a title containing ‘Murder’, why should one be surprised that the hall was packed on a nasty wet November evening? And a large cast to satisfy the society that is waiting to be on stage again, a good choice. Peter Gordon as author with his spoof in the best of Agatha Christie traditions offered so much to your audiences. 

What an excellent box set for this play, detail to all the many dressings gave the atmosphere especially important with all those pictures on the wall in view of the plot. Good period costuming for Agatha Christie style play helped with those characterisations, all carried out with style and completeness. Director Becky Davis had a good blank page to begin the plot. 

.All began calmly with house owner Mildred (Elaine Skelley) and niece Dorothy (Elizabeth Turner) waiting for weekend visitors from her past. Martin Drummond as butler Bunting had a dream role with his difficult personality traits, very strong cameo character and bringing out the first of many humorous moments in this comedy. 

Alan Carpenter as Colonel Craddock was a larger than life Christie character (almost OTT) with his tales about his army career and it seems a clandestine affair in Paris with the lady of the house. Accompanied by his seemingly colourless wife Margaret (Rowena Atkinson) who surprises in the action as Act 2 livens up with pace and happenings.  

Unexpected extra guests from Paris of the art dealer Pierre Marceau (David Atkinson) who sold some of those paintings on display (but are they genuine or a case for blackmail) and his moll Elizabeth (Becky Davis), and are they genuine Parisian? All these offerings for so many subplots in this catalogue of possible murders. 

Bring in the cavalry in the guise of local lady Heather Carpenter in a role model as Miss Maple who has a reputation for being on the spot when a murder occurs (and there are several here) with her tweed suit and the knitting  whilst sorting out the local police force. 

Poor trod on Constable Thomkins from David Percival who really has the right ideas but not allowed to flourish, a very nice characterisation and injury from shooting.  And his boss Inspector Pratt from Chris Baines with the malapropisms and missed names and incident mistakes, a great role to play and so mixed that one has no idea whether he is sticking to the script or not in the muddle he creates. 

A lot of business in this play with attitudes and actions and catchphrases awash, laughs regarding so much of these in this action including the ‘Fools and Horses’ fall through a door and many other TV remembrances (certainly the audience picked up on most of these). And with the possibilities of many motives from more than one on stage with shootings and murders and blackmail and a chance of inheritance, it was difficult and mystifying as to who was the culprit.