Pinch Punch Improv welcomes audiences aboard to potentially one of the most chaotic, yet equally hilarious, journeys that a person could embark on, with their production of Locomotive for Murder: The Improvised Whodunnit. Currently taking a short tour of venues around the UK, ahead of a stint at Edinburgh Fringe, Pinch Punch Improv have made a pit-stop at Theatr Clwyd in Mold until 16th March.
The premise of Locomotive for Murder: The Improvised Whodunnit initially appears to be simple. Through audience suggestions and personal stories, four characters are created who aboard the train, to whichever destination that the audience decides on, however, one character will not survive the journey. Also deciding on the dreadful fate of one of the travellers, audiences have full involvement on directing the storyline, and then must work together to decide who the murderer is (only the murderer themselves know).
For this performance, with an audience full of Welsh patriots, our destination could of course be nowhere other than Sunny Rhyl. This already sets the tone for the evening, and from the offset, our detective (David Fenne) builds a rapport with the audience and creates a safe environment for audiences to get completely lost in their, to put it quite frankly, ridiculous suggestions.
It's clear that the cast are in for a wild ride due to the audience’s slightly questionable suggestions, however, the Pinch Punch Improv team embrace the chaos and manage to provide a high-quality and engaging evening of entertainment. The whole team must be commended for their incredible skills in improvisation, quickly thinking on the spot and memorising key information and details throughout to ensure that the story runs smoothly.
It would simply be unfair to give standout performances when the standard of the team is so incredibly high, with each actor bringing their own to their character. As a second-time viewer of Locomotive for Murder, it was fun to see David Fenne and Lottie Davies back on the stage, but this time playing completely different characters. Fenne has a natural gift of enticing the characters to interact in a certain way, providing so many moments of humour. Fenne demonstrates a masterclass of quick-wit and is impressively successful in quickly adapting the story to enable it to move forward. Lottie Davies is a joy to watch, and when her character becomes the mother of Coldplay’s guitarist, Davies takes the opportunity for puns a-plenty, which are highly appreciated by the audience.
Emma Lowther is absolutely hilarious when given the funniest character-type of the evening, and fully embodies her character. It's such a shame when her fate is decided upon by the audience as I would have loved to have seen more of her character work as the detective interrogates the suspects. Sam Martin embraces his character of a passionate artist willing to go to extreme measures to make music. His interactions with the detective are some of the standout moments of the show, especially when it is evident that both Martin and Fenne are so close to breaking character. Angela Eyton receives a few challenging requests from the audience, but Eyton rises to the challenge and goes above and beyond to gain the laughter of the audience.
Props are minimal but are used effectively - with stools used as train seats that are occasionally moved around on the stage, and a rack of clothing set out on the side of the stage that the cast occasionally used to transform into other characters. However, this is all that is needed to bring the story to life and just gives more space and freedom for the cast to demonstrate their mastered craft in improvisation.
Locomotive for Murder: The Improvised Whodunnit is a quick-paced, devilishly funny and highly entertaining piece of theatre. With all the doom and gloom in the world, the Pinch Punch Improv team bring a light-hearted joy and escapism within theatre. For more information and tickets to future shows, you can follow the link here.
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AD | gifted tickets in return for an honest review