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A Murder is Announced
Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton
*** THIS is the 125 anniversary year of
Agatha Christie’s birth, and the remarkable crime writer can still
attract decent sized audiences to see her cleverly constructed murder
mysteries. Plenty of fans were at the Grand on opening night
of the Middle Ground Theatre Company’s version of the rather complicated
and at times unbelievable tale which opens with someone at Letitia
Blacklock’s comfortable Victorian house in the village of Chipping
Cleghorn spotting an unusual advert in the local paper. It warns that a murder will take place at
Letitia’s home at 6.30pm that night – Friday October 13. Surely a joke, and the group of people who gather
there seem remarkable at ease about it…until the lights fuse, gunshots
ring out, and sure enough there’s a body on the drawing room floor. There follows all the usual twists and turns that
Christie can imagine, and I kept wondering how this old dear in a floppy
brown hat could help the local plod sort it out, especially as veteran
actress Judy Cornwell was less than convincing as Miss Marple, the old
sleuth. People in the rear seats must find it difficult
to catch all she says, while the opposite is the case with the Little
Paddocks refugee cook, Mitzi, played with an irritating, OTT foghorn
voice by Lydia Piechowiak. Top performance comes from Diane Fletcher, owner
of Little Paddocks, and Tom Butcher has some amusing moments amid the
tension as the local detective, Inspector Craddock, who is clearly much
brighter than he sounds. The 12-strong cast received warm applause from
the opening night audience. A well constructed set is perfect for the play
which runs to 28.11.15 Paul MarstonDeath by Appointment
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