Murder She Didn't Write | Duchess Theatre

The more avid readers of this reviewer’s work may remember that last year, we got the opportunity to review an improvised Shakespeare show. Since then, it is no secret that this reviewer has taken to this particular style of work. That being said, it is no surprise that Murder, She Didn’t Write has skyrocketed to the top of this reviewer’s list of most memorable shows.

The concept of an improvised murder mystery show is a risky one, which has endless potential for a messy evening. Murder, She Didn’t Write certainly knew how to erase every single doubt, and may even go so far as to make the audience regret ever doubting what an amazing show this cast could create out of thin air.

In order to add a minimum of structure to the show, the cast needed a recipe. Led by ring- master Detective Agatha Crusty (Lizzy Skrzypiec), the audience is called upon to make a couple of decisions, including a place and a thing/person around which the murder is set. Granted, this is the part which opens up the possibilities of the most improbable scenarios, and that is all part of the fun and challenge.

Skrzypiec then stays ring-side taking notes as the story unfolds, with the opportunity to intervene at any moment to call on the actors in the scene. This gave rise to the funniest and most absurd scenes where the actors would try to trick each other (for example, by telling the audience that this character speaks Latin, to which Detective Crusty would ask them to demonstrate). This showed the audience not only the cast’s ability to deal with every challenge thrown at them, but also their on-stage chemistry. This is an aspect of performance which, in my opinion, is too often overlooked. This cast’s chemistry, however, is a key factor in making the audience enjoy the absurdity of the situation even more as they bring us into their intimate circle and, by extension, allow us to feel connected in the most unseriously professional way.

The characters are not predetermined, nor are the relationships between actors. What is, however, is the set. With the very limited stage space the show is afforded (considering they are not a permanent resident of the venue), Justin Williams has designed set pieces which fit together like jigsaw pieces, creating an impression of depth and height. The design is fairly tangible in that it fits with a time period (set as the 1930s) and a wide variety of different scenarios as it is refined, but not extravagant, and yet modest, but not scarce.

It turns out that the best recipe for a great night out is indeed ‘spontaneity' and this team has everything going in their favour: a recipe which fosters creativity as well as absurdity, and has amazing results.

★★★★★ (5*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Pamela Raith