The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society - Murder Mystery

The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society Murder Mystery

Written by David McGillivray and Walter Zerlin Jr.

Directed by John Coit

CAST

Liz Gibson

Karen Blunden

Denise Robinson

Beky Peake

Helen Fyles

Tony Westwood

Perfomance dates - 23rd, 24th and 25th March 2023 at The Henfield Hall

The ladies (and one long suffering gentlemen) of The F.A.H.E.T.G.D.S presented an ambitious evening's entertainment for their members - a cunning whodunnit, Murder at Checkmate Manor. The hard working cast of five actors and their stage manager took on all fourteen roles in the play - sometimes with confusing results. Every drama group has experienced the horrors of what can go wrong on opening night, and this production was no different, with the possible exception that almost everything that could happen did. The scenery collapsed, cues and even whole pages were missed, lines were forgotten and even the sound effects took on strange notes at times. Totally bonkers.

NODA REPORT

23/03/2023

Author Susanne Crosby

Group: Henfield Theatre Company

Show: The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society Murder Mystery

Venue: Henfield Hall, Henfield

Date: 23 March 2023

Stage Director: John Coit

The fact that we have programmes such as “it’ll be alright on the night” shows that even on television, audiences love it when something goes wrong. Theatre, being live, is slightly different every night of course, and sometimes things do go wrong, and sometimes it’s these things that make a comedy show brilliant. You often find the audience almost willing something to go awry. It is an utterly fabulous idea to take all of the things that could go wrong and put them into one play, especially in 1980, when this was premiered.

And this is packed full of everything that could possibly go wrong, going wrong. Immediately the curtain opens the chess board falls over a spills all the pieces and a portrait falls off the wall. It must go against the grain for any theatre company to make a set with deliberate failings in it, but this was achieved really well. The box set had flats at the back painted to show the house, including a fireplace. Through the window upstage centre you could see the painted outside of the house, and it was lit according to it being night or day outside. Two entrances were used stage left including a curtained doorway, through which gloved hands came and strangled one character, and in another scene someone was “stabbed” through it – once with a ‘sword’ and once with an ironing board. There were two on stage right, one upstage, and some stairs with a railing that constantly fell off in centre right. The door downstage right caused much hilarity through the play as it was only painted to look like a door, cue much “it’s not a real door!” when people tried to come through it, at one point breaking through the handle and waving. The fireplace painted flat fell down at one point revealing two cast members the otherside who hurriedly put it back – the wrong way up, so when the Inspector came in and was invited to warm his hands by the fire, he had to hold them in the air to reach.

There were many props, much of the time in the wrong place, or at least not in the right place, or absent altogether. There was a lovely moment when the inspector was supposed to be given a drink but no glasses could be found so he was given a tennis ball. There was a projection at the start of the play in which an old fashioned projector was used onto a little flip chart type stand: the projection was coming from tech in the ceiling but the timing of it, especially when it fell over so was slanted, really looked like it was coming from the projector that one character held. Very well done.

There are only six actors involved in this play, all playing multiple roles. Their main character is of someone in the “Guild” plus the Inspector who, as part of the story, has been thrown in the deep end when one actor becomes indisposed. The five women then play all the different parts in the Murder Mystery: the ‘play within the play’, the intention being of course that they are not very good and ham it up a great deal. The over acting, or incapable acting, all adds to the humour; just when you think you can pause from laughing, something else happens.

There are comedy moments coming from absolutely everywhere in this piece: physical comedy, wordplay including spoonerisms, the props, the set falling to pieces, the tech not working when it should: lighting going off or on when the opposite was required and none of the sounds being either quite what they should be or in the wrong place. An example was a car crash that happened in Act 2 out of the blue which should have been at the end of Act 1, and a car driving away when it should have been arriving and parking. Even the curtain gets involved – almost closing, then opening, then closing again. Everyone is costumed beautifully and the comedy there comes from the mad wigs or added hair that signify different characters, including Pawn the butler (played by Helen Fyles) that had to keep going out and coming in again as Colonel King, in the end wearing the Colonel moustache on the cheek due to rushing. There is a totally hilarious “fashion show” at the end of the first Act ending with Cynthia Reece (played by Beky Peake) in the most ridiculous and exuberant dance in the most bizarre looking costume ‘from the future’ which kept the audience laughing well after the curtain closed.

It’s clear that every aspect of this play has been considered by Director John Coit who has managed to highlight all the comedy, although the pace dipped at times unfortunately which lost some potential comedy moments. The actors do a grand job of looking like they are bad actors when they clearly are not: another tall order for an actor. They take to the physical comedy incredibly well, including a scene where Pawn pushes the French Maid out of the window in the most utterly ridiculous way, which is so well done. There are too many great moments to single out, but special notes have to be given to the fast set piece of duologue between Thelma (Denise Robinson) and the Inspector (Tony Westwood) which repeats itself round and round; to Thelma – as Daphne – in tennis outfit trying to catch tennis balls flying at her from everywhere; and the funniest chair choreography when they are all trying to get chairs to hear the reading of the will, with everyone taking chairs off and on until they all stand there and only the armchair in the centre remains.

Each of the actors in this ensemble piece are worthy of praise, to add to those already mentioned: Karen Blunden as Doreen Bishop then changing physicality completely to become the archaeologist cousin, and Liz Gibson as the long suffering Chair of the Guild trying to hold it all together and keeping a straight face marvellously. It worked particularly well when the characters kept a straight face through it all although there were a couple of times when two characters laughed, it was hard to tell if this was corpsing on stage or part of the play: it was far funnier when they tried to do it seriously.

Helen Fyles as Pawn the Butler absolutely shone: her confusion when she tried turning the lamp on and the phone rang was hilarious and her deadpan delivery of the Butler lines was absolutely spot on, and her contrasting delivery of the lines on the phone calls were superb: rattling through and not waiting for the person on the other end to speak. Beky Peake as the French Maid was also brilliant, with her physicality and miming the window shutting and falling out of it for example.

It of course works as an ensemble piece and they all work with each other so well, it really is a joy to watch. To successfully create something deliberately disastrous is very difficult, and to make it continually funny even more so. A brilliant choice of play for a cold evening, uplifting the audience and making us all laugh. Super.

Susanne Crosby

The ladies (and one long-suffering gentleman) of the Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society are presenting an ambitious evening’s entertainment for their members – a cunning whodunnit, Murder at Checkmate Manor.

The hard-working cast of five actors and their stage manager take on all fourteen roles in their play – sometimes with confusing results. Every drama group has experienced the horrors of what can go wrong on opening night, and this production is n o different, with the possible exception that almost everything that could happen does! The scenery collapses, cues (and even whole pages) are missed, lines forgotten, and the sound effects take on a strange note at times. . . .

The authors, David McGillivray and Walter Zerlin Jnr., formed the touring theatre company Entertainment Machine in 1975, and the Farndale Macbeth was first performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1976. McGillivray and Zerlin went on to write ten Farndale plays; the Murder Mystery was first performed in Edinburgh in 1980 and was partly revised by the authors for a new tour in 1996

The hard-working cast of five actors and their stage manager take on all fourteen roles in their play – sometimes with confusing results. Every drama group has experienced the horrors of what can go wrong on opening night, and this production is no different, with the possible exception that almost everything that could happen does! The scenery collapses, cues (and even whole pages) are missed, lines forgotten, and the sound effects take on a strange note at times. . . .