Reunions with old friends are usually either fantastic and heartwarming, or chaotic and disastrous. However, even the worst-case scenario is often manageable. Death’s Veiled Agenda pushes these boundaries and unpacks the complications of university friends forcing friendship in the real world.
The show opens with what appears to be a confession, with one character alone on stage. Shortly after, the company gradually arrives at Thornfield Manor to take part in an immersive
murder mystery game. Bea (Isabel Da Silva) has organised the evening for her birthday celebrations, bringing together the mismatched group of university friends long after graduating. Throughout the game, dynamics are established and secrets are revealed, and unplanned events force the group to question themselves, each other, and the purpose of
the evening.
Abby Patrick and Kian O’Callaghan have crafted a strong murder mystery, with unexpected twists and several layers of detail which contribute to the final reveal. Throughout, characters make unnoticeable decisions or react in unique ways to their surroundings, all giving early evidence of the role the individual will play before secrets are unmasked. However, the dialogue did not always match up to this standard. Whilst the story was intricate, the character’s lines were frequently too on-the-nose and a lot of the humour fell flat. Conversations were repeated, so whilst a certain character might have been hearing news for the first time, the audience was hearing it for the third or fourth occasion. In real life, news is passed around in such a way, but for a piece of theatre, the audience needs to be trusted in assuming messages have been shared. Either that, or they need to be sharper and more subtle.
This was one factor that contributed to the excessive runtime. Act One ran at 80 minutes, with Act Two close to 55 minutes. This is longer than the advertised runtime, which is already lengthy without taking the interval into account. Even though the skeleton of the mystery leaves a lot to be explored, it could be argued that the show would benefit greatly from trimming the unnecessary dialogue. Even after the final reveal, the play continued to go on for another few (long) scenes, missing its natural endpoint.
Nevertheless, the extra time spent in the auditorium meant the audience had longer to observe the set and the cleverness of the layout. Every prop, picture, decoration, and costume was meticulously chosen and placed exactly where it should be. Most directly
support the plot, being interacted with, yet those that were not still served their purpose. Some were a nod to the setting, others to the mystery itself. A lot of thought went into the design.
The creative focus of Death’s Veiled Agenda was often misplaced, but not entirely wasted. With some work, the script has the potential to complement the deserving story. A lot of the hard work has been completed, and this run should give the team the insights they require to develop the production further.
⭐⭐⭐ (3*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review
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