THE prolific American writer Jack Sharkey first published The Murder Room in 1977, and now, almost 40 years on, Yeovil’s Civic Players have brought it to their avid audience. It should have happened back in 2020, but the pandemic got in the way, just weeks before the opening night.
Thankfully, director Andrew Meadows and his excellent cast decided the show, already fully rehearsed, should be rekindled. It would have been a crying shame to waste all the work they must have done on this hilarious spoof murder mystery.
Like all the best farces, this is all about timing, and Sharkey’s script is full of very short one liners, bandied back between the cast members at breakneck speed. It takes real skill and concentration to do this effectively, accompanied by the vital, and equally-timed, facial expressions. You couldn’t have asked for more from a professional company.
Set in the ornate home of Edgar Hollister (furniture by courtesy of the St Margaret’s Hospice shop) it all starts at 9pm on a Friday night – the very day when Mr Hollister has married his second wife, the vampish Mavis Templeton. Instead of an evening a deux, Mavis has been out to a church meeting, leaving the suspicious Edgar at home with his cocoa. But neither the cocoa, the marriage, the meeting – or the cat – are quite what they seem.
Fast forward to 10am next morning, when police inspector Crandall arrives, as does a constable. Edgar is missing. The maid, Lottie, is on hand to dish the dirt rather than clear it up, and then Susan, Edgar’s daughter, arrives from her graduation from an American university, having picked up a fiance, Barry the billionaire, on the boat home.
A solicitor phones, saying that Edgar wanted to change his will. The plot thickens …
Vikki Whitchurch is a simply splendid Mavis, with Colin Francis as an Edgar with a very suspicious wig, and the very funny Lucy-Ella Robinson as the scatty Lottie. Sara Westaway’s Susan is the epitome of misinterpretation, and Adam Holland manages a totally convincing accent as the bemused Barry. The cast is completed by the multi-talented Rich Walters as the befuddling DI. Just when you think you have it sorted out, the characters offer their own explanations, confusing things further – and further still.
The Murder Room, with its tricks and traps and convolutions, is a real joy for both cast and audience, and another example of how the versatile Civic Players add to Yeovil’s theatrical riches.
GP-W