Secondary Cause of Death
Peter Gordon
The Palace Theatre, Southend-on-Sea
4th-6th February 2016
Peter Gordon
The Palace Theatre, Southend-on-Sea
4th-6th February 2016
If ever there was a masterclass for taking on a character and completely embracing its believability factor, then the whole cast of Secondary Cause of Death should be awarded a certificate; with an extra gold star going to David Callister. Callister plays the completely hapless Inspector Pratt and, even by the standards of the comedy play genre, has to embody a character that, quite honestly, suspends one’s disbelief throughout.
The play is the second of the Inspector Pratt trilogies written by Peter Gordon. The Inspector arrives at Bagshot House and becomes involved in a murder mystery evening, which turns into a night of chaos as one by one each of the characters are killed off for real, with twists and turns aplenty.
Naturally, Pratt, living up to his title, tries to solve the mystery but, with his utter ineptitude to solve a crime and his shocking case of malapropisms, leaves you wondering how on earth he ever became an Inspector in the first place. But let’s not overthink it though, the whole point of this play isn’t really for us to try and figure out who the murderer is - if you do, you are likely to come away with a bit of headache quite frankly - but simply to sit back and enjoy the whole spectacular ridiculousness of it all.
There are plenty of Agatha Christie’esque characters in this production including a Polish Count, played fabulously by David Janson; the wonderfully named Lady Isadora Pollock played by Michelle Morris; Colonel Craddock and an eccentric thespian called Longfellow; both played superbly by Jeffrey Holland, best known for his portrayal of Spike in Hi-de-Hi! Nurse Parsley (Melissa Clements) and of course a cook played by Polly Smith who has a fabulous line alluding to the fact that regardless of how many people get bumped off, the rest of them will always want something to eat!
Judy Buxton plays the aptly named Cynthia Maple (a nod to Miss Marple, one presumes), with great theatrical splendour and I particularly enjoyed her constant Inspector Pratt putdowns.
I also loved Liz Garland as Henrietta Woolmer-Cardington, who was a joy to watch and really made me chuckle as the officer who pronounces her "r’s" with a "w" and must have taken great delight in having to say the line that involved the words “top ranking civil servant.”
Of course, I have to give a special mention to Megan Terry in her first professional role as Martha Armstrong, the housekeeper. As I expected, she looked completely at home alongside the rest of the cast and did an excellent job looking every bit the seasoned actress up on The Palace Theatre stage.
With the popularity lately of such productions as ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ and ’39 Steps’, this play could quite easily be renamed ‘Agatha Christie Goes Wrong’. If you enjoy the humour of those types of show and the sheer comedy craziness that accompanies them, then you certainly won’t be disappointed with Secondary Cause of Death.
To read our interview with Megan click here.
The play is the second of the Inspector Pratt trilogies written by Peter Gordon. The Inspector arrives at Bagshot House and becomes involved in a murder mystery evening, which turns into a night of chaos as one by one each of the characters are killed off for real, with twists and turns aplenty.
Naturally, Pratt, living up to his title, tries to solve the mystery but, with his utter ineptitude to solve a crime and his shocking case of malapropisms, leaves you wondering how on earth he ever became an Inspector in the first place. But let’s not overthink it though, the whole point of this play isn’t really for us to try and figure out who the murderer is - if you do, you are likely to come away with a bit of headache quite frankly - but simply to sit back and enjoy the whole spectacular ridiculousness of it all.
There are plenty of Agatha Christie’esque characters in this production including a Polish Count, played fabulously by David Janson; the wonderfully named Lady Isadora Pollock played by Michelle Morris; Colonel Craddock and an eccentric thespian called Longfellow; both played superbly by Jeffrey Holland, best known for his portrayal of Spike in Hi-de-Hi! Nurse Parsley (Melissa Clements) and of course a cook played by Polly Smith who has a fabulous line alluding to the fact that regardless of how many people get bumped off, the rest of them will always want something to eat!
Judy Buxton plays the aptly named Cynthia Maple (a nod to Miss Marple, one presumes), with great theatrical splendour and I particularly enjoyed her constant Inspector Pratt putdowns.
I also loved Liz Garland as Henrietta Woolmer-Cardington, who was a joy to watch and really made me chuckle as the officer who pronounces her "r’s" with a "w" and must have taken great delight in having to say the line that involved the words “top ranking civil servant.”
Of course, I have to give a special mention to Megan Terry in her first professional role as Martha Armstrong, the housekeeper. As I expected, she looked completely at home alongside the rest of the cast and did an excellent job looking every bit the seasoned actress up on The Palace Theatre stage.
With the popularity lately of such productions as ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ and ’39 Steps’, this play could quite easily be renamed ‘Agatha Christie Goes Wrong’. If you enjoy the humour of those types of show and the sheer comedy craziness that accompanies them, then you certainly won’t be disappointed with Secondary Cause of Death.
To read our interview with Megan click here.
WHAT THE AUDIENCE THOUGHT
Lizzie Smith, Westcliff
“It was a thoroughly entertaining evening. The bit where the Inspector impersonates the butler was hilarious - my favourite part. There’s lots of twists and turns.”
“It was a thoroughly entertaining evening. The bit where the Inspector impersonates the butler was hilarious - my favourite part. There’s lots of twists and turns.”
David Goodger, Southchurch
“It had a good pace and certainly kept your interest. I loved all the twists, although some of the running jokes seemed to stay at one pace so there weren’t too many belly laughs."
“It had a good pace and certainly kept your interest. I loved all the twists, although some of the running jokes seemed to stay at one pace so there weren’t too many belly laughs."