[ad_1]
United Kingdom Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d: Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. 28.11.2022. (JPr)
I’m not a fantastic Agatha Christie fan: I’ve by no means sat by means of any of David Suchet’s TV model of Poirot although have seen Peter Ustinov and Kenneth Branagh on movie and have watched Margaret Rutherford and Joan Hickson as Miss Marple again within the day. Then in fact there have been the occasional TV variations of a few of Christie’s different books that I’ve seen together with And Then There Were None (which has an authentic now-infamous title). Also I’ve by no means, ever, needed to see The Mousetrap now 70 years younger on London’s West End – and at present on a UK anniversary tour – with no signal its reputation will finish quickly. I got here to the Original Theatre Company’s The Mirror Crack’d completely blind to whodunnit which I believe is the easiest way to see it, in any other case Christie devotees is perhaps wanting this adaptation to get on with it or want that they had stayed at house and re-read the ebook.
The time interval is unsure, grocery store and showers are new concepts, but there’s nonetheless the demise penalty as the final word punishment. So presumably it’s both late-50s or early-60s, although a few of the speechifying – Rachel Wagstaff’s adaptation is a really wordy one – was clearly 2022. It is just not a spoiler to say that there’s a homicide to be solved and several other suspects who might have performed the deed. Heather Leigh (Jules Melvin) dies – poisoned by a strawberry daiquiri – at a celebration given by Marina Gregg (Sophie Ward) a well-known American actress who has moved into the realm together with her husband, movie producer Jason Rudd (David Partridge) and who – returning after a break – is trying to revive her profession by making a movie about Catherine of Aragon. They have purchased the native manor home Gossington Hall from Dolly Bantry (Veronica Roberts) who – in one other handy coincidence – is the neighbour and good good friend of Miss Marple (Susie Blake) in St Mary Mead. The homicide is being investigated by Chief Inspector Craddock (Oliver Boot) for whom Miss Marple is ‘Aunt Jane’ and there’s historical past there of him making an attempt to cease her getting concerned in his investigations, which he signally fails to do as soon as once more. There are different characters on whom suspicion falls akin to Lola Brewster (Chrystine Symone) who’s starring with Gregg as Anne Boleyn, Gregg’s assistant Ella Zielinsky (Sarah Lawrie), and her butler Giuseppe Renzo (Lorenzo Martelli) however – no especial spoiler right here – he won’t see out the play. There can also be the extra harmless wanting Cyril Leigh (John Wark), Heather’s husband, and Cherry Baker (Mara Allen) who’s Miss Marple’s house assist. She wants the assistance as a result of in an odd opening to The Mirror Crack’d Miss Marple is somewhat housebound – at the least initially – due to a sprained ankle.
There is a really odd opening to the play with Miss Marple sleeping in her chair and she or he appears to conjure up the characters we’ll later see. Incredibly the primary phrase we hear her say – and the primary phrase of the play – is ‘Bugger!’ It would have been so significantly better to have proven us the (first!) homicide after which with flashbacks and freeze-frame (which we do get quite a lot of) see all of the occasions from the viewpoints of these concerned. Miss Marple sits within the chair quite a bit with everybody strolling round her – or sitting together with her – to inform us what occurred previously or offstage. (Later she is going to hobble slowly round on crutches or use a strolling stick.) It is all somewhat static and, to be trustworthy, considerably stagey.
For me, Max Pappenheim’s incidental music didn’t add a fantastic deal to the environment. On the plus facet, there’s glorious use of Adrian Linford’s revolving set which might fairly recommend – due to a glass conservatory look with sliding doorways and enormous French home windows – the places the play wanted from Miss Marple’s lounge, the get together at Gossington Hall, in addition to a movie studio. Cue that homicide thriller staple, a crashing arc mild!
There are some lighter moments, primarily from Dolly Bantry who complains about supermarkets with – in comparison with old-style grocers – folks having to pick out their very own buying, new housing estates, and questioning how it could work for 2 ladies in love. Then – indicative of the variation’s inconsistent type – there’s quite a lot of pathos, significantly with Miss Marple reflecting poignantly on over the 4 many years that had handed because the mysterious-sounding demise of her sweetheart throughout the first world conflict. This mirrored (sorry!) the heroine’s isolation and loneliness in Alfred Lord Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott which gave the novel its authentic title, The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side, plus its different themes of affection, loss and the way actions have penalties. I’ll write no extra on this now as a result of all this comes collectively within the (acquainted) massive reveal on the finish of the play even when Philip Franks‘s course fails to create any actual stress earlier than we get there.
I assumed the performing was good however not distinctive and in plenty of methods The Mirror Crack’d lacked a lot wanted glamour, type and class. Susie Blake was a quietly comforting presence as Miss Marple, she (finally) unmasks the offender by stealth somewhat than insightful leaps of instinct. Oliver Boot’s Chief Inspector channels John Cleese in his exasperation together with her, while Veronica Roberts was the proper village gossip confused by the social modifications of the 20 th century. Sophie Ward has her greatest moments on the finish – saying extra about that may be giving an excessive amount of away – however largely her efficiency is somewhat understated as Marina Gregg, the pale film star. Elsewhere there are some dodgy accents within the performances of the remainder of the ensemble however deserving of particular reward had been David Partridge changing Joe McFadden as Gregg’s devoted – although newest – husband, Jason Rudd, and John Wark who stood in for Partridge as Cyril Leigh.
Jim Pritchard
The tour of The Mirror Crack’d continues in 2023.
Production:
New adaptation – Rachel Wagstaff
Director – Philip Franks
Designer – Adrian Linford
Sound designer and Composer – Max Pappenheim
Lighting designer – Emma Chapman
Movement director and AD – Sophia Vi
Original dramaturgy – Melly Still
Cast:
Miss Marple – Susie Blake
Marina Gregg – Sophie Ward
Jason Rudd – David Partridge
Cherry Baker – Mara Allan
Chief Inspector Craddock – Oliver Boot
Ella Zielinsky – Sarah Lawrie
Giuseppe Renzo – Lorenzo Martelli
Heather Leigh – Jules Melvin
Cyril Leigh – John Wark
Dolly Bantry – Veronica Roberts
Lola Brewster – Chrystine Symone
Party Guest / Assistant Director / Policewoman – Holly Smith
[ad_2]