Father Brown – The Murderer in the Mirror at Theatre Royal, Nottingham Review
TICKETS TO THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THIS REVIEW
Reviewed by Louise Edwards
The Colin McIntyre Classic Thriller Seasons continues its run at the Nottingham Theatre Royal this week in a socially distanced performance of Father Brown – The Murderer in the Mirror. There are the usual precautions taking place such as track and trace, temperature checks, difference entraces around the theatre and seats are very well socially distanced. Again the show runs through for 90 minutes without an interval.
Father Brown is a fictional Catholic priest and amateur detective, who is featured in short stories by GK Chesterton before, during and after the First World War. He solves mysteries using his keen knowledge of human nature and sharp sense of intuition.
The stage is set in a West End theatre basement consisting of old props as well as the office of the director, and actor, Mundon Mandeville played by John Goodrum. Goodrum is also the designer and director of the play for Rumpus Theatres.
Father Brown, played by stage and screen veteran John Lyons, appears out of the shadows and introduces the sinister theme of the play we are about to see filling the audience with intrigue.
It is the opening night of Mandeville’s latest play and the star of the show, an Italian actress, Miss Maroni, has locked herself in her dressing room and remains in there, in silence. Rehearsals havent gone well and the pressures is on with critics and paying audience members eagerly anticipating the latest offering from Mandeville who is used to producing pantomimes.
Mandeville is tearing his hair out with the stress as the cast, consisting of; his wife, Miriam, played by Karen Henson; Susie Sands, played by Lara Lemon and Norman Knights, played by Christopher Brookes offer an insight into why she may be hiding away.
The time is remembered as 1927.
The drama unfolds and the audience may be right to think that the play would be about the murder of the Italian actress, as the key characters seem to have a reason for wanting her gone – Susie Sands so that she can step in and be the star (she has learnt all her own lines plus the lines for both her and Miss Maroni’s part) and Miriam Mandeville who reveals she had an argument with the Italian star about the gaudy dress she was wearing and how she, shock horror, wanted to be the star of the show. Her marriage to Mundon is also not going well and there is talk of “another woman”.
Father Brown calms down the proceedings and the plan is made that they will continue with the dress rehearsal going over scenes (yet again!) that Miss Maroni is not in. Mundon is going to listen from his office in the basement and Father Brown will watch from the stalls as the three cast members take their positions. During the action we learn the gun prop has gone missing and shots are heard to be fired setting forth a string of twists and turns to keep the audience guessing.
Lyons is most famous for playing DS George Toolan opposite David Jason in A Touch of Frost.At the end of the performance as the cast members stood on the stage for the final applause a mamber of the audience couldn’t resist shouting out “Arrest her George” prompting Lyons, still in his character as Father Brown, to playfully shake his fist.
With life slowly retiurning to normality it feels so good to be back at live theatre and I would highly recommend this play. It is a little slow at the beginning but the acting is top class and pace soon escalates to have you guessing to the very end who the guilty party are.
Rating: ⅘
Tickets are available from £25 from Nottingham’s Theatre Royal here.