THE ‘ORIGINAL Theatre Company’ has a knack of putting ‘bums on seats’ by producing slick and very accessible theatre.
‘Murder at Midnight’, which arrived at Malvern last night, is the group’s latest offering – written by Torben Betts who also penned their highly popular ‘Murder in the Dark’.
In my opinion, this new show is a far cleverer piece of writing being less a whodunit and more a cross between ‘Inside Number 9 and a Greek tragedy – with a bit of Ayckbournian biting satire thrown in for good measure.
The opening (accompanied by a high decibel soundtrack of Robbie Williams’ ‘Let Me Entertain You’) has blue lights flashing and police officers swarming over a posh pad in Essex at just after midnight on New Years Eve. Multiple murders have graced the house party, along with a missing person, a cocked-up police stakeout and a deranged old woman chanting on about demonic possession.
What follows is a pacy, racy and hilarious two hours of what happened before midnight to bring the why-as-well-as-a-who into ‘whodunit?’ with a string of false dawns and jeopardies en-route to the slaughter of the not-so-innocents.
All the action takes place in the house and grounds of a one-eyed gangster come-drug-dealer, come-pig-farmer Jonny the Cyclops. For this designer Colin Falconer has created a slick, multi-layered set which is not only simply sumptuous but provides separate but clear acting spaces. Each allows for intimacy and focus but also lets scenes to run in tandem where necessary, as the plot requires a relentless pace. The access from one space to another is cleverly lit and connected
Philip Franks directs with broad brush strokes, bringing the story to life and lets Betts’s text zing with the pace of farce with more than a whiff of sulphur in the air.
Seasoned actor Jason Durr revels in the role of Jonny, making him a living amalgamation of every Cockney gangster ever to grace stage and screen. The references to the Krays being just one of the clever asides he delivers throughout. It is a cheeky, masterful and generous performance which provides the cement to a successful company.
The wily and wonderful Susie Blake has a ball playing Jonny’s mother Shirley – feigning dementia when it suits her. She cleverly crosses between lovable to wicked old woman and is hilarious in both guises.
Max Bowden plays undercover cop Paul, a role which requires him to traverse set at a nifty pace. He literally jumps between bedroom romps with Jonny’s girlfriend Lisa, to searching the posh pad for drugs and reporting progress back to his base via the controller in his ear. Lisa is played by Katie McGlynn, who puts the sex in sexpot as the gorgeous but frustrated gangster’s moll.
Special shout outs to Callum Balmforth as Russell the clown burglar and Peter Moreton as Jonny’s enforcer, Trainwreck. Both drag every ounce of comedy and pathos from their short bursts on stage with some exemplary physical theatricality on display as well..
Completing the main cast is Iryna Poplavska who is engaging as Cristina, Shirley’s Romanian ‘fish out of water’ carer.
Murder at Midnight is very clever in concept, adeptly brought to life by a company in complete harmony with each other, delivering what the playwright intended. I particularly liked the way the story was linked by dialogue which had double meanings as it moved from scene to scene.
In truth I’m not usually a massive fan of stage ‘who-done-its’ but the originality of this one gets a big thumbs up from me.
Murder at Midnight runs at Malvern Theatres until Saturday, October 11. Click here for times, tickets and more information.
*****
