vluedo malvern

Cluedo

Malvern Theatres

****

If you fancy an evening of slapstick farce and general madness, Cluedo provides an excellent evening at the theatre. Based on the board game by John Waddington and the film Clue, this production sends up the usual whodunnit in extravagant style.

The six characters of the board game, Col. Mustard, Miss Scarlet, Professor Plum, Miss White, Mrs Peacock and the Reverend Green are invited to Boddy Manor on a stormy and violent evening, all apparently blackmailed by their host and with secrets to hide, all assuming a false identity.  

All six are provided with one of the familiar six murder implements – lead piping, revolver, rope, spanner, candlestick and dagger – the lights go out and pandemonium starts.

One of the most impressive elements in the show is the set. With seven doors, opening panels to reveal the key rooms in the board game, hidden passages and panels, the set is brilliantly designed by David Farley, This is complemented by excellent lighting (Warren Letton) and sound effects (John Fiber). The set is then used to hilarious effect: the cast racing in and out of the doors exploit the set to the full.

cluedo malvern

Although none of our protagonists die, a few murders take place and the team run around Boddy Manor hunting for evidence. The physicality of this performance is a huge credit to Anna Healey, the Movement Director. The cast individually and collectively are massively entertaining in their movements as well as through the fast-moving dialogues.

The cast perform in large measure as an ensemble and yet the characters are well differentiated. Miss Scarlet as the Soho Madam (Michelle Collins), Mrs Peacock (Judith Amsenga) as the posh wife of some politician, the seedy Professor Plum (Daniel Casey), the glamorous but sinister Mrs White (Etisyai Philip), the retired Colonel Mustard (Wesley Griffith) and the youthful Reverend Green (Tom Babbage) who gets knocked about mercilessly and suffers from a bloody nose.

The individual performances are all excellent but supremely Jean-Luke Worrell as Wadsworth, the ‘butler’, steals the show with his long, elastic limbs, staccato moves and facial expressions. As the manager of the evening he controls the whole game and is a real star.

Mark Bell directs. Having directed The Play that Goes Wrong, he brings much of the same humour and similar tricks and devices to bring a very entertaining show together. Despite a bit of repetition, this evening is zany, mad and frenetic – a lively evening of escapist fun.   

Tim Crow

20-06-22

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