We all love a murder mystery, as long as the victim isn’t us, and the Original Theatre company has brought such a shenanigan to the Hippodrome theatre in Darlington.
The cast
Some familiar faces here; Susie Blake is a comedy stalwart who has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, but is better known through TV’s Coronation Street. Jason Durr is another Shakespearian, but TV viewers will recognise him from Heartbeat. Avid TV fans also will be able to pick out Max Bowden from Eastenders, and Katie McGlynn from Hollyoaks. Clever casting by Ellie Collyer-Bristow. Serious actors who pay their rent via the shallowest medium of all.
Out with the Old Year…
It’s New Year’s Eve in a quiet corner of Kent and a killer is in the house. The protagonists are locked in a remote location. Night has fallen, and a murderer is on the loose But whodunnit? There’s a long list of suspects. It’s a familiar plotline. The genre can for make for an enjoyable mix of thrills and laughs, from the 1939 Bob Hope classic The Cat and the Canary, through to an Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians
Flashback
The play opens on New Year’s day, with a Scenes of Crime Officer listing a number of bizarre weapons straight out of Cluedo. But then we flashback to the previous evening. So, we meet Jonny ‘The Cyclops’ – the notorious gangster, his glamorous wife, his trigger-happy sidekick, his mum Shirley, who’s seeing things, her very jittery carer Cristina, plus a vicar who’s hiding something, and a nervous burglar dressed as a clown. The vicar has got to be another Cluedo reference.
Let me Entertain You
Jonny ‘The Cyclops’ is an East End villain straight out of central casting. He’s a Robbie Williams obsessive. A good choice: a preening narcissist who encapsulates a media obsession with worthless ‘celebrities.’ Coldplay are in writer Torben Betts sights too, as he takes aim at middle-brow lovers of a slightly posher brand of vapid trash. But the cultural references seemed to pass a mainly elderly Darlington audience by.
Do they mean us?
However, there’s some clever social commentary here. This is Britain in 2026. The average Brit might see themselves in Russell, a desperado in hock to loan sharks; or Trainwreck, Jonny’s sidekick, who’s never had a break in his life. Trainwreck’s boss Jonny is another type we’re familiar with, cruising around in a vanity-plate Beamer, making £30k a week selling Class-A, and untouched by the law. Cristina, Shirley’s carer, is an Eastern European immigrant who can’t quite come to terms with Britain’s post-Brexit, post-pandemic meltdown. As for Shirley herself, think Violet Kray, but with early onset dementia.
Jacobean
Director Philip Franks says that Torben Betts’ play reminds him of a Jacobean drama. That was also a time of dystopia and cynicism. But there are also shades of Joe Orton, who mined the same vein during his brief career, riding a wave of hedonism in 1960s ‘swinging’ London. Orton’s plotting was as tight as a drum. Murder at Midnight doesn’t quite match that level, and could maybe do with some re-writing; less exposition and more gags. Scenes are played simultaneously in different parts of the stage, but the audience found this confusing. However Jason Durr enjoys chewing the scenery at Jonny, and Susie Blake is in top form as the not-quite-demented Shirley.
Act Two
Things pick up in the second half of the play. If Joe Orton had lived long enough to collaborate with Quentin Tarentino, they might have come up with something like this. Anyone expecting cosy Miss Marple stuff will have been surprised as the action hurls towards the crescendo, and the weapons of choice take centre stage. This was the best part of the evening, with some great slapstick farce work.
Take a bow
The crowd applauded enthusiastically at the final curtain, although some weren’t quite sure what had hit them. But the best shows leave you asking questions long after the performance is over. This could be one of them.
Murder at Midnight is a killer night out, and it would be a crime to miss it*
* © every review of every crime thriller ever
Murder at Midnight is playing at the Darlington Hippodrome, Parkgate, Darlington, DL1 1RR.
Box Office Telephone 01325 405405
These dates are available:
- Thursday 2 April 7:30 pm
- Friday 3 April 7:30 pm
- Saturday 4 April 7:30 pm
