MURDER WEAPON AT THE THEATRE ROYAL, WINDSOR
I rather hope the Theatre Royal Windsor has started a new trend or, rather, revived an old one.
Back in the day, actors cut their teeth on rep, with one company performing a different play each week. It was a good way for actors to hone their skills, learning a new play while performing another.
For the past month TABS Productions have been doing just that, and without any big names to draw them, the audience at this week’s opening night was healthy - and hearty. As we left the auditorium I saw one woman turn to another sitting behind her and say, ‘See you next week?’ ‘You bet!’ came the reply. There was a feeling of camaraderie, and the warmth towards the now familiar actors was palpable.
Murder Weapon, written by creator of The Avengers Brian Clemens, is indeed a worthy contender for the theatre’s Classic Thriller Season.
The ingenious plot is centred around Charley Mirren who, having already served 10 years for murder, is found with gun in hand standing over a dead body. Whodunnit? The fun is finding out!
The culprit, if you’re paying attention, is not too hard to spot. However, how the play gets to its conclusion is chock full of twists and turns which will certainly have you on the edge of your seat.
The members of TABS Productions have already proved their versatility and this play is no exception.
Karen Henson, who directed last week’s production, plays the police chief Jessica Bligh in charge of the murder investigation. Being new at the job and ex-Army, she wants to do everything by the book, but she’s not sure of herself and Henson plays her as lacking in confidence and authority.
In complete contrast, Inspector Fremont is a old hand who just wants to get things over and done with, and Michael Sherwin makes the most of his character’s cynicism; his deadpan delivery is a comic masterpiece.
Jeremy Lloyd Thomas’s portrayal of the murder suspect is another tour de force. Charley isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer and Lloyd Thomas brings out his vulnerability and confusion, agitated and with nervous ticks.
Next week TABS Productions present Francis Durbridge’s The Gentle Hook. I’m sorry it’s their last play in Windsor.
CLAIRE BROTHERWOOD uktheatre.net
IT’S annoying what you can fail to deduce about a murder mystery even when you’ve picked up the scent.
I should have thought a little more deeply about two clues I noticed in the programme during the interval.
And I was daft not to realise that something which happened on stage was actually a clue, rather than covering up a problem with the production.
I’m always feeling like Watson rather than Holmes.
But the penultimate offering in the Theatre Royal’s Thriller Season is a very tidy, balanced tale where, for once, some of my initial suspicions turned out to be correct.
The central chilling moment, where you have a man, with the murder weapon in his hand and the body at his feet, ‘caught in the act’ is a wonderful set piece.
But the events of Act One that frame it are entertainingly orchestrated by a team of players clearly delighting in their production beneath all the sinister goings-on.
There are two double acts at the heart of the story. Karen Henson plays the newly-appointed, ex-Army, police chief Jessica Bligh, who wants to conduct the investigation by the book. Michael Sherwin is the long-serving Inspector Fremont, who wants to stick with the obvious conclusion and get home to his bed.
He has had the suspect jailed for murder before and wants it all wrapped up again. She keeps changing her mind, but has lingering doubts about holes in the version of events which suspect Charley Mirren has given. The pair play off one another beautifully.
Their relationship provides a well-constructed contrast to that between Charley, played excellently by Jeremy Lloyd Thomas, and his psychiatrist come friend, George.
The scene where the pair first meet is one of the most captivating of the show, especially for anyone who has a taste for the dark, provocative side of psychiatry.
For the past month theatregoers have been blessed by productions beginning with Arnold Ridley’s The Ghost Train, moving on to its newly-written follow-up The Shadow Of The Ghost, penned by Arnold’s son Nicolas Ridley and Chris Ponka.
Francis Durbridge’s Fatal Encounter was last week’s offering and another Durbridge, The Gentle Hook, will start on Monday.
It is a great concept, one which the theatre should revisit in the future.
I would have had this rather neat story nailed if I had got my little grey cells working properly – so go along and see if you can work it out. Will you chop and change your mind as often as Jessica Bligh or be as confused as Charley Mirren?
THE READING CHRONICLE
I rather hope the Theatre Royal Windsor has started a new trend or, rather, revived an old one.
Back in the day, actors cut their teeth on rep, with one company performing a different play each week. It was a good way for actors to hone their skills, learning a new play while performing another.
For the past month TABS Productions have been doing just that, and without any big names to draw them, the audience at this week’s opening night was healthy - and hearty. As we left the auditorium I saw one woman turn to another sitting behind her and say, ‘See you next week?’ ‘You bet!’ came the reply. There was a feeling of camaraderie, and the warmth towards the now familiar actors was palpable.
Murder Weapon, written by creator of The Avengers Brian Clemens, is indeed a worthy contender for the theatre’s Classic Thriller Season.
The ingenious plot is centred around Charley Mirren who, having already served 10 years for murder, is found with gun in hand standing over a dead body. Whodunnit? The fun is finding out!
The culprit, if you’re paying attention, is not too hard to spot. However, how the play gets to its conclusion is chock full of twists and turns which will certainly have you on the edge of your seat.
The members of TABS Productions have already proved their versatility and this play is no exception.
Karen Henson, who directed last week’s production, plays the police chief Jessica Bligh in charge of the murder investigation. Being new at the job and ex-Army, she wants to do everything by the book, but she’s not sure of herself and Henson plays her as lacking in confidence and authority.
In complete contrast, Inspector Fremont is a old hand who just wants to get things over and done with, and Michael Sherwin makes the most of his character’s cynicism; his deadpan delivery is a comic masterpiece.
Jeremy Lloyd Thomas’s portrayal of the murder suspect is another tour de force. Charley isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer and Lloyd Thomas brings out his vulnerability and confusion, agitated and with nervous ticks.
Next week TABS Productions present Francis Durbridge’s The Gentle Hook. I’m sorry it’s their last play in Windsor.
CLAIRE BROTHERWOOD uktheatre.net
IT’S annoying what you can fail to deduce about a murder mystery even when you’ve picked up the scent.
I should have thought a little more deeply about two clues I noticed in the programme during the interval.
And I was daft not to realise that something which happened on stage was actually a clue, rather than covering up a problem with the production.
I’m always feeling like Watson rather than Holmes.
But the penultimate offering in the Theatre Royal’s Thriller Season is a very tidy, balanced tale where, for once, some of my initial suspicions turned out to be correct.
The central chilling moment, where you have a man, with the murder weapon in his hand and the body at his feet, ‘caught in the act’ is a wonderful set piece.
But the events of Act One that frame it are entertainingly orchestrated by a team of players clearly delighting in their production beneath all the sinister goings-on.
There are two double acts at the heart of the story. Karen Henson plays the newly-appointed, ex-Army, police chief Jessica Bligh, who wants to conduct the investigation by the book. Michael Sherwin is the long-serving Inspector Fremont, who wants to stick with the obvious conclusion and get home to his bed.
He has had the suspect jailed for murder before and wants it all wrapped up again. She keeps changing her mind, but has lingering doubts about holes in the version of events which suspect Charley Mirren has given. The pair play off one another beautifully.
Their relationship provides a well-constructed contrast to that between Charley, played excellently by Jeremy Lloyd Thomas, and his psychiatrist come friend, George.
The scene where the pair first meet is one of the most captivating of the show, especially for anyone who has a taste for the dark, provocative side of psychiatry.
For the past month theatregoers have been blessed by productions beginning with Arnold Ridley’s The Ghost Train, moving on to its newly-written follow-up The Shadow Of The Ghost, penned by Arnold’s son Nicolas Ridley and Chris Ponka.
Francis Durbridge’s Fatal Encounter was last week’s offering and another Durbridge, The Gentle Hook, will start on Monday.
It is a great concept, one which the theatre should revisit in the future.
I would have had this rather neat story nailed if I had got my little grey cells working properly – so go along and see if you can work it out. Will you chop and change your mind as often as Jessica Bligh or be as confused as Charley Mirren?
THE READING CHRONICLE