The 73 year-old farmer went to prison for poisoning her husband with mushroom soup. Guess what’s for dinner?
Murder in the Dark at the Oxford Playhouse, from September 25-30. Review by Jon Lewis
The Original Theatre Company production of Torben Betts’ new play Murder in the Dark, directed by Philip Franks suggests it’s ‘a killer thriller to knock ‘em dead’ on the flyer only for the small print to reveal the quote refers to a completely different show, Night Must Fall. Red flag number one. Turning over the flyer to the reverse, there’s a list of popular television programmes the cast has starred in but nothing about the director or playwright (both who have an excellent pedigree). Red flag two. The programme suggests Murder in the Dark is a horror and not the thriller promoted on the flyer. Red flag three.
The programme requests audiences not to spoil the fun for future attendees by revealing the plot. So far, so The Mousetrap. Tom Chambers plays a former pop star, Danny Sierra (real name Nigel Carmichael) from a band akin to S Club 7, called Dance Party 5. Their big hit, still popular years later, is called Murder in the Dark, an ironic title for a play where there is (spoiler alert), no murder in the dark. Nigel is now something of a failure, the three female members of his band not interested in reuniting.
Danny is estranged from his rather austere brother William (Owen Oakeshott), his brittle ex-wife Rebecca (Rebecca Charles), his wired son Jake (Jonny Green), an emerging talent in the music industry, and his foxy girlfriend Sarah (Laura White), a young woman half his age who is in the middle of an argument with him. All five are abandoned in a remote farmhouse twenty miles from the nearest village, with no internet or mobile coverage, in heavy snowfall on New Years Eve after Nigel has crashed their car with Nigel over the limit. The day before was his (estranged, naturally) mother’s funeral. The 73 year-old farmer (Susie Blake) went to prison for poisoning her husband with mushroom soup. Guess what’s for dinner.
The Grudge-like wraith, moving shudderingly across the stage to Max Pappenheim’s brilliant score and Paul Pyant’s pinpoint lighting design, make for some must-see moments in a very contrived production.
