Follow a struggling traveling troupe of actors as they make their way through a long UK tour of ‘Dial M for Murder.’
From the beginning of the show, various characters are introduced, including the troupe itself and other random characters. The main concern with the opening of the show, and indeed the rest of Act 1, is the pace. Various miscellaneous characters were introduced, with little follow through for each of them, which quickly became confusing. On top of this, the ‘Mayhem’ aspect of the show took a long time to appear, as it was only just started in Act 2.
As enticing as the prospect of a show not unlike ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ seemed at first, waiting the first hour for a glimpse into part of the title felt a little too much. Now it’s not to say that the actors themselves lacked merit, as they each delivered quirky and unique performances, but the book did not quite render justice to the work of the actors themselves.
The standout moments of the show were most often delivered by Alasdair Baker, who played Rupert. Now this character was possibly the only character who remained of the ‘farcical’ sort throughout, and despite the obvious lack of subtlety or finesse in the jokes, managed to gather a few chuckles in the room.
The play is set in the fictional Loch Shindig Village Hall of the Highlands of Scotland in May
1991. The set was quite clever in that it was mostly constructed by the actors themselves as
their characters prepare the hall for their evening performance. There were moments in Act
2 however, where the set up seemed slightly impractical as the stage crew had to come on
stage for a considerable amount of time to fix it appropriately, breaking the little momentum
the show had started accumulating.
The premise of the show seemed incredibly enticing, the book lacked the pacing and clarity
it desperately needed to fulfill such expectations. In the end, it left, through no fault of the
actors, a feeling of disappointment.
⭐️⭐️ (2*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review
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