REVIEW
✭✭✭✭✭ 5/5
Murder in the Dark
Palace Theatre, Westcliff on Sea
Monday 29th January - Saturday 3rd February 2024
✭✭✭✭✭ 5/5
Murder in the Dark
Palace Theatre, Westcliff on Sea
Monday 29th January - Saturday 3rd February 2024
My initial observation at watching this Original Theatre, Trafalgar Theatre Productions & JAS Theatricals presentation of Murder in the Dark, was just how quiet the audience were on Monday’s press night. Not one rustle of a sweet wrapper, no squelch of a water bottle, not even a cough or sneeze. The reason, almost certainly being, is that Murder in the Dark is a play that you won’t want to miss one second of.
To begin with you could be forgiven for thinking that this would be a murder mystery story that follows the same familiar plot as many others. It’s New Years Eve, there’s a car crash, travellers abandoned miles from the nearest village, a place to stay the night that has no wifi and relatively zero coverage to make any phone calls or have any contact with the outside world, offered up by a mildly eccentric local . We’ve been here before right? Wrong.
This is a tale that has you fully engrossed from the moment the lights flicker, with believable characters and a brilliantly written script from Torben Betts alongside some expert direction from Philip Franks. Susie Blake plays the quirky Mrs Bateman and provides an acting masterclass in characterisation. Tom Chambers really gets his teeth into the role of Danny Sierra with a gritty performance of the 'has-been' pop star who after selfishly abandoning his own brother’s band to gain his own success with Dance Party 5 and neglecting his family when they needed him, has come to the realisation that his champagne lifestyle has come to a rather desperate end.
There are also some cracking performances from Owen Oakshott as William, Jonny Green as Jake, Laura White as Sarah and Rebecca Charles as Rebecca who make up the rest of this fabulous cast.
There is a covenant at the beginning of the programme which says, SPREAD THE WORD (BUT NOT THE SPOILERS) and so this is probably going to be one of my shorter reviews as there are many twists and turns to be enjoyed and experienced in this production, as well as many spooky, creepy and hair-raising moments that really put this play into the suspense genre as well as the murder mystery category.
Huge kudos to Paul Pyant and Max Pappenheim for designing the technically brilliant lighting and sound which provide the undercurrent to such an atmospheric mood that is constant throughout this play and, as cliched as it sounds, will not only have you on the edge of your seat, but also trying to work out just what the hell is going on.
What I loved about this play is that throughout all the tension and angst, there are lots of, (believe it or not), laugh out loud moments and the humour injected into this play is perfectly placed and balanced and there is real feeling that this scenerio could truly be happening to any one of us.
Everything about this production feels like a team effort and I have to say it is probably one of the best original written and performed modern day murder mysteries that I’ve seen at the Palace Theatre. A great way to start the New Year, although maybe not if you’re scared of the dark.
Review: Kim Tobin
To begin with you could be forgiven for thinking that this would be a murder mystery story that follows the same familiar plot as many others. It’s New Years Eve, there’s a car crash, travellers abandoned miles from the nearest village, a place to stay the night that has no wifi and relatively zero coverage to make any phone calls or have any contact with the outside world, offered up by a mildly eccentric local . We’ve been here before right? Wrong.
This is a tale that has you fully engrossed from the moment the lights flicker, with believable characters and a brilliantly written script from Torben Betts alongside some expert direction from Philip Franks. Susie Blake plays the quirky Mrs Bateman and provides an acting masterclass in characterisation. Tom Chambers really gets his teeth into the role of Danny Sierra with a gritty performance of the 'has-been' pop star who after selfishly abandoning his own brother’s band to gain his own success with Dance Party 5 and neglecting his family when they needed him, has come to the realisation that his champagne lifestyle has come to a rather desperate end.
There are also some cracking performances from Owen Oakshott as William, Jonny Green as Jake, Laura White as Sarah and Rebecca Charles as Rebecca who make up the rest of this fabulous cast.
There is a covenant at the beginning of the programme which says, SPREAD THE WORD (BUT NOT THE SPOILERS) and so this is probably going to be one of my shorter reviews as there are many twists and turns to be enjoyed and experienced in this production, as well as many spooky, creepy and hair-raising moments that really put this play into the suspense genre as well as the murder mystery category.
Huge kudos to Paul Pyant and Max Pappenheim for designing the technically brilliant lighting and sound which provide the undercurrent to such an atmospheric mood that is constant throughout this play and, as cliched as it sounds, will not only have you on the edge of your seat, but also trying to work out just what the hell is going on.
What I loved about this play is that throughout all the tension and angst, there are lots of, (believe it or not), laugh out loud moments and the humour injected into this play is perfectly placed and balanced and there is real feeling that this scenerio could truly be happening to any one of us.
Everything about this production feels like a team effort and I have to say it is probably one of the best original written and performed modern day murder mysteries that I’ve seen at the Palace Theatre. A great way to start the New Year, although maybe not if you’re scared of the dark.
Review: Kim Tobin