Show: Spider’s Web
Society: Churchill Theatre Bromley (professional)
Venue: No venue information available
Credits: Agatha Christie | The Agatha Christie Theatre Company
Type: Sardines
Performance Date: 02/11/2009
Spider’s Web
Paul Johnson | 04 Oct 2011 01:34am
“Curious how people can’t see what’s in front of their eyes.” A typical Agatha Christie warning to her audience, and, naturally, leaving us all guessing until the very end. When, of course, our gallant efforts are proved to all have been in vain; we all missed what was simply obvious. The latest show to open at Churchill Theatre, Bromley, is Agatha Christie’s Spider’s Web. The only murder mystery Christie wrote as a play, as opposed to a book, was produced by The Agatha Christie Theatre Company in association with Bill Kenwright. Well worth a mention was Melanie Gutteridge as Clarissa Hailsham-Brown, onstage almost throughout she had the challenging task of bringing female glamour to an almost all-male cast. She delivered her witty one-liners with ease and grace, adding to the comic element of a surprisingly humorous play for Christie. Her guardian, uncle and fellow conspirator, Sir Rowland Delahaye, was superbly played by Bruce Montague. His likeable, down-to-earth persona contrasted effectively to Clarrisa’s easy going, slightly scatty, demeanour. Rowland’s golf friends were Hugo Birch (Mark Wynter) and Jeremy Warrender (Ben Nealon). These relatively small parts led to the actors struggling to find their own space and led Mark Wynter to overact in parts; although his blustering complaints did lighten the mood considerably. Ben Nealon’s more defined role as the youngest man led to a rather stereotypical 1950s bachelor, but his character became more unique as he became more comfortable in role later in the play. The suspicious and disbelieving Inspector Lord was played by Denis Lill. Typically for Christie, the inspector in charge of a murder is never meant to endear himself to the audience, and this one fitted that criteria superbly. As he became more entrenched in the character’s lies his stubborn (but probably wise) refusal to accept their stories, both true and false, gave the actor a chance to display his worthy skills of frustration through his gestures and actions. The other female role was Mildred Peake, played by Catherine Shipton. Her interpretation of the eccentric gardener was over-acted and her laugh reached the point of irritation during the first part of the play. However, she relaxed a bit during the second half, meaning the audience accepted, if not appreciated, her by the end. And her final scene was very naturalistically acted with a suitable accent. Funnily enough, the smaller roles in the play left the biggest impressions on the audience by creating a distinct, and not insignificant, role for themselves. These included the butler, Elgin, fantastically played by Michael Gabe. His stiff posture and unusual accent left the audience eagerly awaiting his return and drew brilliant reactions from his fellow actors. Innocently leading us down a false path was Clarissa’s stepdaughter, Pippa, played by Karen Elliot. She adopted the characteristics of a rather odd child very comfortably. Her mannerisms and voice grew on the audience as they accepted her nature, after learning more about her past. Her father was the nervous foreign office diplomat, Henry Hailsham-Brown, played by Lucas Hare. His agitated mood, shown by his nervous gestures, contrasted with his wife’s wholly unserious, humorous response giving many in the audience something to empathise with and firmly setting the scene in the 1950s. The inspector’s willing assistant was Constable Jones, played by Mark Rose. His responses to some of the play’s humorous lines drew the biggest laughs from the audience. His actions in the background didn’t go unnoticed by the audience, but, skilfully, didn’t detract from the main plot. Naturally, the only guaranteed character in a murder mystery is the victim himself. Sly, cunning and disliked by all, Oliver Costello was fantastically portrayed by Matthew Hebdon. Despite taking rather a long time to be killed off for an Agatha Christie, his acting lost none of its skill after his demise. Remaining onstage to play a corpse, he led me, at least, to question if he’d been replaced with a mannequin. The costumes similarly ensured the audience understood the time period and setting. The distinct and, in some cases, unusual costumes extended the characterisations but, occasionally, assisted too much with stereotypes being fulfilled. Strangely for this author, my main complaint has to be about the plot of this play. Having been written purely for a theatre audience, I had the distinct impression that the plot had been simplified for a more relaxed audience as opposed to a reader more willing to concentrate. This led to a definite absence of red-herrings, false leads and character revelations-exactly what we were all looking out for. Considering Christie wrote eighty murder mysteries, why choose one with less plot and intrigue? Overall, this performance is worth a visit for Agatha Christie fans; however, don’t expect to be gripping your seat as you attempt to keep pace with the twists and turns. On the other hand, for fans of quality acting, impressive sets and a relaxing plot, this is a must-see.
- : admin
- : 02/11/2009