Father Brown - The Curse of the Invisible Man

Malvern Theatre

***

A SPINE-chilling whodunit play by John Goodrum; a murder mystery where the culprit leaves no trace based on the classic mysteries by GK Chesterton.

Rumpus Theatre Company formed in 1994 return with one of the very first stage appearances of the mild-mannered Catholic parish priest and brilliant detective Father Brown - The Curse of the Invisible Man.

This production is based on two classic mysteries by Chesterton, The Invisible Man and The Curse of the Golden Cross. It sees the characters begin to question whether the culprit could truly be invisible and if it is all really due toJohn Lyons some malevolent ancient curse surrounding five mystical daggers.

Set in 1906 Father Brown is called to the Edwardian country house of archaeologist Diana Hope and her niece Ella, where his incisive deductions peel away the many layers of this haunting case, until he finally unmasks the killer.

The music used in the this eerie production is taken from Bernard Herrmann's score for Psycho. The curse has already struck multiple victims in Amsterdam and Italy where wealthy owners and collectors have succumbed to the daggers they once owned.

Father Brown is played by the brilliant John Lyons (pictured) who is hugely familiar to TV audiences from his years as DS George Toolan – David Jason’s sidekick in A Touch of Frost. Lyon’s other TV appearances include Upstairs Downstairs, The Onedin Line, On the Buses, George and Mildred and The Sweeney.

The first collection of Father Brown short stories were published in 1911 and their popularity continued beyond the last collection which came out in 1935. The character of the priest detective has been very appealing to actors with many interpretations of him on film, radio and television over the last hundred years with the most recent performance by Mark Williams in the BBC television afternoon drama series. However there has been very few, if any, outings for Chesterton’s sleuth on stage.

Chesterton is often referred to as the prince of paradox and a man of colossal genius, known as a writer, poet, philosopher, journalist and art critic. He is also famed for his epigrams, once writing that "art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere"

But in the meantime, has the line been drawn or will the murderer strike again? To Wednesday 23-09-15

Johnathan Gray

21-09-15 

 

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