Royal & Derngate Theatre, Northampton- until 30th November 2024
Review by Amanda Allen
3***
If I’m honest I didn’t like the game of Cluedo as a child, I could never work out who was where, with what, when and sadly last nights performance was very much like that. The frantic pace of the story unfolds in 1968 in a country house not far from London. We are introduced to the cast cantered around Rick Black, a fading rock star played by Liam Horrigan, his manager, Colonel Mustard, played by Jason Durr and his rather posh wife Mrs Peacock played by Hannah Boyce. The first half was so fast paced, with comic dialogue coming at you from every direction so quickly, you didn’t have time to laugh at one bit before you had been subjected to 2 or 3 more gags on the way! Many of them falling flat and passing the audience by. Unfortunately, many of the jokes and gags were rather worn and overdone, the “Butler / I’m not a butler I’m an actor” gag was repeated far to often and became boring.
For me the highlight was the staging and costumes, this was truly innovative and imaginative. The use of hanging and moving doors, windows, pictures and furniture to create the illusion of a large, many roomed, manor house really worked. All the cast took part in creating the scenery moves, this must have taken a great deal of choreography and practice. The set designer David Farley has done an excellent job creating the image of a large manor house with a limited space and using the transitions from one room to another as part of the story was genius. The colour of the characters depicted in the costumes was another great ploy, the only disappointment in that respect was Professor Plum (Edward Howells) who was in a multi coloured outfit that seemed a bit out of place.
Written by the Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran the story has more twists and turns than I could keep up with, I’m sure I missed quite a lot as the whole thing was at such a fast pace I think you need to see it twice to get the whole story! Many of the character’s seemed a bit two dimensional, some having detailed back stories and some remaining a mystery. I was a bit disappointed with Ellie Leach’s Miss Scarlet. She never really seemed to get going, the character was a bit flat. Reference was made to her Strictly Come Dancing win with a few dance moves, but I felt she could do more with the role, it needed exaggerating somehow.
Colonel Dijon Mustard played by Jason Durr, a TV favourite from Casualty and Holby, was one of the standout performances of the evening. His over exaggerated American accent and enthusiastic portrayal of the rock star Manager was most entertaining. Mrs White played by Dawn Buckland was also extremely entertaining popping up all the time in unexpected places. The surprise arrival of Rev Green (Gabriel Paul) was another highlight, his character loomed large over the stage and the rest of the cast. Played with just the right amount of both soft concern and menace he forged an immediate connection with the audience. The only downside for me in his appearance was the overworked Al Green / Hal Green joke, I think anyone in the audience younger than me would struggle to get the musical references to Al Greens songs. In conclusion, for me, the second half was much better than the first with more action, more characters and more murders than the first half. I enjoyed the performance but would like to see a bit more connection with the audience and a slowing down of the dialogue particularly in the first half. If you are a fan of the Cluedo game go along and see Cluedo2 you will enjoy a good night out and an evening of funny, easy, entertainment.