The scene is an isolated country manor house belonging to a rock star that's past his prime. The time is the tail end of the swinging sixties, when floral patterns and knee high boots are all the rage. The premise is that at least one of the guests will end up murdered. But with motives aplenty flying around, can the surviving characters work out whodunnit before the police arrive?
‘Cluedo 2' is based on the popular board game that has been the staple of British households for decades. In the 1990s, it was turned into a celebrity-studded television series. The stage production is a self-contained drama, taking its inspiration from the premise of the game but dealing out the cards a bit like a cross between an Agatha Christie murder mystery and ‘The Play that Goes Wrong', with the occasional bit of panto creeping in for good measure.
This is not a play for those who take their crime dramas seriously and want to methodically analyse the clues and work out who the killer is before the big reveal. Rather, it's an entertaining evening for those who enjoy silly humour and tongue-in-cheek melodrama. And no, you don't have to have seen the original theatrical production of ‘Cluedo' to understand what's going on. This proved a popular point of discussion among punters at the bar and in the auditorium before the curtain rose. It's most likely that the writers had such a good time with ‘Cluedo' they decided to follow it up with a brand new plot.
‘Cluedo 2' has the essential ingredients of a good murder mystery. Nothing is quite as it seems. Nobody is quite who they say they are. The host, rocker Rick Black (Liam Horrigan) is hoping to make a musical comeback, but is he stealing ideas from somebody else? Is manager, the Texan Colonel Mustard (Jason Durr), pocketing more than his share of proceeds from the record sales? As for Black's wife, Mrs Peacock (Hannah Boyce), what secrets could an aristocratic lady be hiding? The staff are no more transparent. Mrs White (Dawn Buckland) has eyes and ears everywhere, and is Wadsworth (Jack Bennett) even a real butler? And if he is, did he do it?
The creators of the show make a decent fist of keeping lots of spinning plates in the air to keep the audience guessing. But for writers of the calibre of Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran (who gave us ‘Shine on Harvey Moon', ‘The New Statesman', ‘Birds of a Feather', ‘Goodnight Sweetheart' and other classic sitcoms and comedy dramas) I was a little disappointed with the script. It takes the play an age to get going, and the first half hour is clunky and stilted, with a low laugh-to-minute ratio. For long periods early on it's even rather dull. It may be that the tour has been going for some time, but there was evidence of complacency among some of the actors, who made curious out-of-character choices that had perhaps elicited a laugh on previous nights but which should be reined in thereafter. The combination of leaden scripting and actorly self-indulgence did not get things off to a flying start.
Having said that, the weak opening isn't fatal. The show picks up considerably after the break, and the climactic sequences are deliciously daft and a lot of fun. There was no sense of the audience switching off, but there were many more belly laughs post-interval.
Having been critical of some performances that need a little tightening around the edges, I'll mention the ones who impressed the most. Dawn Buckland is relentlessly hilarious as Mrs White, and uncannily, just how I have always imagined the character down to her stilted gait and chilling death stares. Jason Durr is solid and charismatic, reinventing Colonel Mustard in the mould of Elvis Presley's notorious manager. His comic timing is also adept, and he commendably stayed in character when a prop cue was missed (one of those moments of complacency that was covered – just – with good humour). Jack Bennett is a lot of fun as the butler, straddling the line between playing an over-the-top actor and acting over-the-top remarkably well. Hannah Boyce comes into her own when we learn about Mrs Peacock's origins, and Liam Horrigan does a sterling job of reinventing himself each time he comes on stage.
If the first half had the energy, pace and wit of the second, this would be a much stronger show. Reimagined as a ninety-minute one act play with no interval, with much of the dreary scene-setting removed would probably benefit it. All of the best bits come in the second half, including a well-handled scene that would slot directly into a panto in which Mrs White interrupts rude words with amusingly-named baked goods just in the nick of time. The running joke of differences between English and American English, on the other hand, wears a bit thin. Hit and miss it may be, but you'll be laughing by the end.
If you're looking for a diverting evening in the theatre and a play that doesn't take itself seriously and makes no demands on the audience, then ‘Cluedo 2' will give you what you're looking for. It isn't the funniest comedy of this type that I've seen, but the reward is that it builds up to a satisfying ending and there are enough good performances to keep you hooked.
Cast: Jason Durr, Ellie Leach, Jack Bennett, Hannah Boyce, Dawn Buckland, Edward Howells, Liam Corrigan, Gabriel Paul Writers: Laurence Marks, Maurice Gran Director: Mark Bell Duration: 120 mins Theatre: The Churchill, Bromley Dates: 10th -14th September 2024 Book ‘Cluedo 2'
