Royal & Derngate Northampton – Monday 14 April 2025
Reviewed by Amarjeet Singh
4****
Who doesn’t love a good whodunit? However, Murder She Didn’t Write is a completely improvised performance from start to finish, so nobody knows who did it or who’s going to get done in until the murder mystery has begun. Every night the Degrees of Error performers act out an original story, never seen before and never to be seen again, based on suggestions offered up from the audience.
The premise is very Cludo-esque, with our main characters donning colours reminiscent of the boardgame. We are guided through the story by detective Agatha Crusty, who tosses her deer stalker into the audience to find her trusty sidekick Jerkins. This helpful audience member along with the rest of the audience are asked to choose the setting, an item integral to the story, and an event. Part way through the performance, Jerkins aids Crusty in randomly choosing the murder victim and murderer. Only the players are privy to this information.
Murder She Didn’t Write is fast paced frenetic and fun. The performers are really enjoying themselves and this is infectious. Punctuated with puns galore and quick quips, the humour is spot on. The laughter is continuous, and everyone is eager to join in, especially when you have a pet rock called William as the murder weapon. Tonight, the improvisers were caught between a rock and a soft place. The location, a Cushion convention, the pivotal item a sharp rock and the event was simply ‘dentist’. With these rather bizarre prompts, this talented troupe created a highly entertaining and hilarious murder mystery.
Lizzy Skrzypiec is a fantastic Agatha Crusty. Explaining how the process works in an entertaining and engaging fashion and interjecting in the show at key moments, forcing the players to up their game and expand on things they have said or done with comical results. Stephen Clements is brilliant as Vernon Blue. Scowl faced, Somme damaged, his spontaneous kiss with the jazz handed Peter Baker, Mr Green, is quite the showstopper. Peter Baker’s energy and physical comedic timing is brilliant, his high note is something to behold. Mr and Mrs Red, Douglas Walker and Rachael Procter-Lane are a marvel to watch. Between the live cat stuffed cushions and the insatiable love for a chaise lounge, I had to catch my breath between laughs. Sylvia Bishop played Violet, aka ‘Dentist’, with aplomb. She brought the house down when she declared that she couldn’t possibly be the murderer as she had taken the toothy version of the Hippocratic oath. Sara Garrard, musical director/pianist and Rob Kershaw technician/show editor both elevated the show with lighting and music adding depth to the performance, letting us know when there were flashbacks, key moments, mood changes and any other important bits which helped us to solve the murder.
I think you get the gist of how creative and inventive this incredible group of artists are. Given a few prompts, and mere moments to get their heads around them, they develop a fully realised and side-splitting show. How do they make magic out of mayhem, before our very eyes…here lies the real mystery!