The Business of Murder at the Northcott Theatre Exeter Review
The Business of Murder
Northcott Theatre, Exeter
6-11 April 2015
Reviewed by Helen Wyatt
Last night we visited the Northcott Theatre in Exeter for the thriller The Business of Murder.
The Northcott Theatre is within the grounds of Exeter University and therefore there is ample parking; during the day there is a cost however it is free during the evening and located close to the theatre.
The outside of the theatre is fairly low key, and it is simply decorated inside. There are a number of floors leading to different entrances to the theatre proper, and also housing the box office, plus the cafe. Everything was well-kept and pleasantly presented. There was a large amount of leg room in the row we were seated in, however the seats became more and more uncomfortable as the show went on meaning I needed to keep shifting about in my seat which was unfortunate.
The theatre was clean and tidy. The theatre is a fairly quiet one, despite seating nearly 500 people. The atmosphere is quite intimate, which a good view of the stage from our seats. All staff we encountered were polite and helpful.
Now for the show:
Now, this is where we hit our first difficulty. Interestingly, the programme supplied did not give any sort of outline of the show at all but focussed on a strangely worded soliloquy on the differences between crime and thriller genres, trying but failing to emanate the style of Hitchcock. The programme really was utterly bizarre and unhelpful.
Other than knowing that the play was that of a thriller about murder, we were somewhat in the dark at the outset. That sadly didn’t much change throughout the show – spoilers aside, I can simply say the show is about a man who attempts to set up 2 others for the murder of someone else.
I would thoroughly commend the 3 actors for the amount of words and staging they had learnt however I really struggled to understand the storyline. We started out in the middle of some already unfolding events, without any real explanation, with only the dialogue between 2 actors to go on – we reached the half way point of the first half (when the curtain went down for some time, going up again to reveal little changes to the set), and we were still rather confused as to what had already happened.
There were various complex elements to the play which could have been tied up quite neatly, or certainly more satisfactorily, however you were left with a sense that something vital was missing, without really knowing what it was. It is not clear what the lead protagonist’s motives are for doing what he does, and the other 2 characters are seemingly lured to his flat for rather tenuous reasons. The fact that they stay there for the rest of the play, for this is a single set show, is fairly unconvincing as the way the story is told suggests that any person in that situation would have left the scene immediately.
The ending of the play was somewhat abrupt, unexpected, and left us even more baffled than we were. The story had a number of holes in it, mainly in relation to why the characters acted the way they did when they did at each point in the play, and the whole play seemed more an exercise in reciting large numbers of lines.
The lead protagonist, Mr Stone, was difficult to work out – it was not clear if he was simply mad or just out for revenge, as his motivation seemed to change throughout the play. In addition the way the actor portrayed him was difficult to relate to, and did not make me especially warm to him; you could however believe he was quite mad at points, at others he was quite infuriating and annoying in his style, such as bellowing at the other actors for unclear reasons. The police detective was a typical arrogant TV cop character, and therefore somewhat of a caricature, however he was played reasonably convincingly by the actor. The female actor, playing an apparently famous play-write, was unfortunately not so convincing in her portrayal of the character. The chemistry of these 3 actors just didn’t seem quite right, although I would reiterate that I commend them for the hard work they must have put in to be able to recall all of their lines and stage movements accurately.
The twists and turns were numerous and interesting but often to the point of confusion, and there were a number of subtle details that you could easily miss if you blinked (such as one character pulling a flask out of a fridge, and I only realised the significance in the car on the way home…). We were left, at the end of the play, feeling puzzled and confused over the turn of events, and unable to quite piece together the storyline in a sensible manner.
Overall, I was fairly dissatisfied with the show as I was left more confused at the end than when I went in!
In addition I would comment that the cafe has a strange set up as there are 2 companies operating there. I attempted to buy a cold drink and some cake however had to buy the cake from one company at one end of the bar, and the drink from the other company. This seems very odd and not exactly helpful to the customer.
Whilst I would be happy to recommend a return to the theatre in general, I regrettably could not recommend the actual show as we found it very confusing. Saying that, it has been described as “The best stage thriller in years” by the Sunday Mirror and “The most ingenious murder mystery for a decade” by the Daily Mail so maybe you will just have to see it to make up your mind.
Rating: 2/5
Tickets cost from £18.50 to £27 (plus £2 booking fee).
The Business of Murder is at the Northcott Theatre in Exeter until 11 April 2015. For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 01392 493493.
Northcott Theatre, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QB | 01392 493 493
