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A game of
die and seek The
Perfect Murder Belgrade
Theatre, Coventry ****
FACED with the imminent loss of his job as IT manager at the Brighton
egg box factory, Victor Smiley (Les Dennis) advances his plan for the
perfect murder – the ‘one the police never hear about’. He loves
watching, and is clearly learning from, murder mysteries from the likes
of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie regularly shown on daytime
television. He is
guided by his oft-quoted motto, WWSD, What Would Sherlock Do?; and
delivers a hilarious if scathing critique of various actors playing his
hero including Benedict ‘Cucumberpatch’. His wife,‘Moanie Joanie’ (Clare
Goose), who prefers the American police series with fewer educational
possibilities, is his chosen victim – with plans of her own. His
paramour, the lovely psychic Slovakian sex-worker Camila Walcek (Simona
Armstrong), is developing her ‘seeing’ relationship with Detective
Constable Roy Grace (Steven Miller), her ‘gifts’ put her in the
difficult position. The story
develops into a Mr and Mrs Smith-style ‘whodunnit’ first! Moanie Joanie
has the support of new lover Don Kirk (Gray O’Brien), a taxi-driver from
Tunbridge Wells with an unfathomable line in Cockney rhyming slang that
provides a good deal of the humour. It’s a clever device. So,
leaving a vast amount out and to your imagination, the pair are left
with a frozen stiff on their hands and Moanie Joanie’s occult
predilections are annoying Don every bit as much as they had Victor. But
who exactly is this frozen stiff? Ah ha, there’s the rub! However I have
to say that with that fully exposed set, the aforementioned frozen stiff
had an awful to do at half-time! Suffice it
to say, the ‘perfect murder’ requires more follow-up than presented
here, we don’t know what happened next.. Did Roy Grace get his man? His
favourite Slovakian medium is no longer available… A word for
the set - which was wonderful for supporting continuous action though
its complexities didn’t support the actors much – particuarly in the
first scene with Victor and Camila in the ‘Kitten Parlour’ which could
have done with either some background music as appeared later to great
effect or at least a little more action. All in
all, this production, directed by IanTalbot, makes for a very enjoyable
evening with plenty to get the ‘little grey cells’ going, and twists
galore to keep you guessing. To 01-03-14. Jane Howard
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