Death by Fatal Murder at Theatre Royal Nottingham Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Louise Edwards
Tabs Productions return to Nottingham’s Theatre Royal for their annual summer Colin McIntyre Classic Thriller Season bringing with them three plays over three weeks and their loyal fans are there en masse! A lot of the regulars will be coming to see all three plays, where there is often a cross over of actors playing different characters in different plays and some of the actors jumping into Director roles.
Tonight is Death by Fatal Murder written by Peter Gordon and directed by John Goodrum. Gordon has written a few plays that Tabs have performed in this season, Murdered to Death and Sleighed to Death (I saw the latter back in 2018!). Both of these featured Inspector Pratt who is also in tonight’s show so you can be assured that comedy will be on the cards.
The play is set during WW2 in November 1940 and in the sitting room of a country manor, Bagshot House. The performance starts as the curtain rises and we see a body of a uniformed character lying on the floor. A woman walks in and sees the body, notes the body is dead and looks for the reason why. She opens an adjacent room and screams. The curtains fall again.
The next scene starts two days later and the arrival of Constable Tomkins played by Pavan Maru. He is investigating a missing policeman who was last seen on his way to Bagshot House. Ginny Farquhar, played by Juliette Strobel, greets him. She has a slightly annoying voice but conveys that she is helping out “the war effort” with her arable knowledge from her Yorkshire roots. The lady of the house, Nancy Allwright (played by Sarah Whynne Kordas) joins the conversation. There is a frisson between her and Constable Tomkins which they try to downplay. Shortly after they are joined by Inspector Pratt, played by Mark Pearce and Miss Marple, played by Karen Henson who have had a run in on the drive. Clearly chaos and calamity follows Pratt around. After a comedy interaction (Pratt consistently uses the wrong words which has the audience in stitches) they all claim to know nothing about a missing policeman and say they haven’t seen anything suspicious. Mrs Allwright introduces the policeman to her guests who are staying at the bed and breakfast that she also offers as a way of helping make ends meet, and we are introduced to Blodwyn Morgan, a clairvoyant, played by Susan Earnshaw and Enzo Garibaldi played by Jeremy Lloyd Thomas.
The intrigue continues as we learn that Mrs Allwright only lives in the West Wing of the manor house and has shut up the main house due to strange goings on and noises. This scene ends with the arrival of Mrs Allwright’s RAF husband, Squadron Leader (Stiffy) Allwright much to her shock and annoyance and we learn that not is all as it seems with two brothers hidden amongst the ensemble..
The second half features a lot more twists and turns, a séance to help get clues to the whereabouts of the missing policeman, a disappearing cheese sandwich and lots more fun and games.
Next week another comedy thriller, Deathtrap set in the late 1970s will be on, featuring some of the same actors and then psychological thriller The Business of Murder concludes the run and is set in the 1980s.
Fantastic writing, awesome acting and lots of laughs for a night out that is refreshing and different. Don’t miss it!
Rating: 5/5
Tickets cost from £19.50 (booking fees may apply).
Death by Fatal Murder is at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham until Saturday 16 August. For more information or to book tickets visit trch.co.uk or call the box office on 0115 989 5555.
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall, Theatre Square, Nottingham, NG1 5ND