Cluedo; we’ve all played the game at some point in our lives (whether by the actual rules, or making it up as we go along the best we can..it’s pretty simple once you get the hang (no pun inten-dead) of it), but I was unaware there was actually a film that inspired the stage production. When I found out it was directed by Mark Bell, the same chap who did The Play That Goes Wrong, I jumped at the chance to see this.
We’re seated in front of a stage set up as the Boddy’s country manor’s hall with seven doors, six illuminated in the famous colours of the board game characters – Blue (Peacock), Red (Scarlett), Yellow (Mustard), Purple (Plum), Green (Green..), White (you get the idea). An oldie timey radio on a trolley is playing a music show hosted and voiced by none other than BBC Radio 4’s Zeb Soanes! Yeah, me neither, but you’d definitely recognise his voice, and the jokes had already begun with a few double entendres that could have easily slipped you by.
This is a very, very, fast paced performance, and very, very, funny. I often found myself not even recovered from the last snort laugh before I was already creasing myself again. Sometimes the jokes are subtle (“It’s a long haul here”…”Well it is a big house”), and sometimes it was just pure slapstick, quite literally. The poor Rev Green does take a bit of a beating throughout.
Speaking of The Reverend, played by Tom Babbage, he was one of my favourite characters from the show. I spent the evening actually thinking he was Matt Cavendish who played Simon in Groan Ups (another of the Goes Wrong shows, sort of), such was the similarity and style of the character and acting.
Another star of the show was Jean-Luke Worrell who plays the Butler that buttles. His delivery and timing was fantastic. Facial movements and engagement with the audience really brought the show to life, and his recap of the events of the evening towards the ends reminded me of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors.
Of course the whole cast were great, Daniel Casey (from various TV shows including Eastenders) playing the man about town Professor Plum, Wesley Griffith the slightly dim witted Colonel Mustard, Etisyai Philip as Mrs White the well to do, politician’s (widowed) wife, Judith Amsenga as the shark fin soup loving (your guess is as good as mine) Mrs Peacock, and Michelle Collins (Cindy Beale!) as the insatiable Miss Scarlett. Then there was Yvette, the French (but not actually French until she was frequently reminded) maid played by Laura Kirman. Meg Travers and Harry Bradley played various parts from policemen, to cooks, to taxi drivers..and it was always fun to see them turn up as the next character, because it gave you a sense of “here we go again” as you became familiar with the pace of the production.
The set and scene changes were impeccably done, and fun, too. Each part of the house (study, kitchen, library etc) each being part of a slide out wall hidden behind one of the coloured doors mentioned earlier. They were choreographed brilliantly that you could follow the characters around the house on their quest to find the murderer without a break in dialogue, which really kept you on your toes, and again, made the laughs endless. Other notable parts are the slow motion chandelier drop (the poor Rev, again), and the rewind scene where the accusations of who the killer is are put forth….but I shall stop there, you’ll have to find out whodunit for yourself.
I would love to go and see this again. Mark Bell and the various cast members of the Goes Wrong productions have lead (pipe) the way for comedy on stage. I should (candle) stick to writing reviews instead of trying to be funny. I’m gun…I mean done.
Review by Johnny Banks
For more information and tickets please visit www.trch.co.uk
