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A slow,
lingering death
Go Back For Murder The Grand
Theatre, Wolverhampton **
MOST of us enjoy a good
whodunit?
and there is no greater exponent of the ‘murder mystery' genre than
Agatha Christie. Audiences
love her and so, for that reason, do theatre producers. A clever
move, then, from Bill Kenwright who has secured exclusive touring rights
of Christie's work, including permission to use her signature above the
title. Go back For Murder
is the stage version of Christie's 1942 novel, Five Little Pigs.
In the play, Christie drops her trusted detective, Hercule Poirot and
replaces him with a young lawyer, Justin Fogg. It's a change that
doesn't work and one that denies the audience of a formula they know and
love . . . i.e. an assorted bunch of folk are drawn together;
a murder takes place; a detective is called; he summons them all
and reveals, eventually, who did it and why. It is simple stuff but
often beautifully written and laden with just the right amount of red
herrings to keep the audience guessing right up to the end. In this case, the chronology
of events is different. We know from the long and slow first scene that
a murder has been committed. Some time ago, in fact. That
established, the action then rewinds some 16 years to play out the
various events and possible motives leading to the crime. Perhaps, in this case, it is
simply a matter of the play not working in the way the novel did
but all too often scenes are poorly structured and lacking in tension.
Characters are just not interesting enough to hold attention and the
plot fails to supply any real suspense. The acting often borders on
inflated melodrama and few characters instill any audience sympathy. Die hard Agatha Christie fans
will love it simply because she wrote it. Sadly, that does not mean its
a good play or one that works in the way that so many of her brilliant
stories did. In truth, it is far from her best work. All that said, this is chance
to see a little performed play from one of our greatest and most
prolific writers. As ever at The Grand Theatre, the first night audience
was hugely supportive and no doubt will continue to be so throughout the
run. Go Back For Murder runs to
09-02-13. Tom Roberts Meanwhile another clue . . . *** QUEEN of crime writers Agatha Christie
turns the daughter of a victim into an amateur sleuth in this sometimes
confusing murder mystery. Carla Le Marchant decides to carry out her own
investigation into the poisoning of her father 20 years ago because she
is convinced of her late mother's innocence. Before dying in prison, Mrs Caroline Crale wrote
to her daughter insisting that she didn't commit the crime, so Carla,
played by Sophie Ward, enlists family solicitor Justin Fogg (Ben Nealon)
to track down all the people who were with the couple at Alderbury House
in the south of England when artist father died. As contacts are made, the first act drags
somewhat, but the pace accelerates after the interval when the five
suspects agree to return to the scene of the crime in a bizarre attempt
to decide who really did it. For the sake of the story Amyas Crale (Gary
Mavers) and his wife (also played by Sophie Ward) have to be
brought 'back from the dead' so that the group can re-enact what
happened on that fateful day, and the real culprit is uncovered. At various points during the second act the
audience are dazzled by powerful lights to trigger a pause in the
action so that solicitor Fogg can step forward to the edge of the stage
and update them. Presumably in case Agatha Christie has baffled 'em. To
09.02.13 Paul Marston
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