Tag Archives: Degrees of Error

Murder She Didn’t Write – 4 Stars

Murder

Murder She Didn’t Write

Leicester Square Theatre

Reviewed – 23rd September 2018

★★★★

the audience entered into the spirit of the show with gusto

 

Degrees of Error are an improvised theatre company based in Bristol, and ‘Murder She Didn’t Write’ has been touring the UK since 2013. It is a fun romp of a show. One pianist, one lady detective and five other actors had the audience in stitches and had a lot of fun in the process.

I always feel slightly sorry for actors who are preset on stage, and the detective had to sit and peruse her books for a good fifteen minutes before the show began. The pianist played in the background, creating a good atmosphere before the action. Unfortunately I was not able to get a cast list, so these talented improvisors will remain unnamed, which is a shame.

The detective got the show off to a good start, getting people to look around suspiciously at their fellow audience members, as ‘there is a murderer in the room.’ One person was nominated as Jerkins, the hapless assistant, and suggestions were solicited as to the location of the crime and the murder weapon. And so we watched a crazy tale set in a plastic surgery hospital in Basildon, where a foul murder was carried out using a syringe made of ice!

So ‘who done it?’ Was it Mr Green with a stick in the morgue? Miss Violet in the office with poison? Mr Blue in the consulting room with a plant? Well, we knew it would be a syringe, but neither the audience nor the actors knew more than that!

The actors enjoyed themselves immensely as the plot thickened around them, and the audience entered into the spirit of the show with gusto, and a lot of laughter. Watching the cast get themselves and each other out of tricky situations, and accept the twists and turns of the story that were thrust upon them was delightful and hilarious. The detective’s interjections changed the ’scenes’, ably assisted by simple lighting changes. The story was told with the use of minimal set and props; a table, a wicker screen and a couple of plants, a walking stick, a bottle and not much else.

Degrees of Error are performing the show at the Leicester Square Theatre once a month at the moment and, if you fancy some madcap entertainment on a Sunday afternoon, I suggest you go and see them. Who knows where the crime scene will be next time, and who will be the villain? Wherever it will be, and whoever will commit the crime, a lot of fun will be had by all.

 

Reviewed by Katre

Photography by Jamie Corbin

 


Murder She Didn’t Write

Leicester Square Theatre – next performances 14th October & 18th November

 

Related
Previously reviewed at this venue
Sh*t-faced Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet | ★★★★ | June 2018
Sh*t-faced Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice | ★★★★ | April 2018
Sh*t-faced Showtime: Oliver With a Twist! | ★★★ | September 2018

 

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Murder, She Didn’t Write – 3 Stars

Murder

Murder, She Didn’t Write

Leicester Square Theatre

Reviewed – 25th February 2018

★★★

“a unique show that is filled with mayhem and mischief”

 

A classic whodunnit is never boring, and when it’s completely improvised and the audience get to take part, it’s twice as fun. Degrees of Error theatre company present a unique show that is filled with mayhem and mischief, and leaves the audience in stitches. Despite being put under pressure to deliver a performance that meets the audience’s expectations, this talented cast still portrayed a very funny and entertaining performance, (even if the audience suggestions were quite crude).

Stephen Clements did an excellent job at welcoming the audience and making us really feel part of this murder mystery. An audience member then decided that the murder would take place at a Hen Party, and the weapon that was used to kill the victim would be a wet tea towel. Slightly bizarre, but nevertheless the cast were able to pull off some hilarious sketches. A particular favourite of mine was when Peter Baker (who played the excited husband to be) had to create a poem about hens, chickens and women. This was extremely funny, purely because none of it made any sense. Produced by the same company, Something for the Weekend, the show reminded me of, ‘Showstopper! The improvised musical,’ except ‘Murder, She Didn’t Write,’ replaced songs with poems about hens.

Improvising is a truly difficult skill and I appreciate that it’s a lot of hard work, but occasionally I felt that the cast were getting too caught up in the whole chicken side of things, and were drifting away from the main plot. Peter Baker worked hard at moving the narrative forward, but the same couldn’t be said for the rest of the cast. He was the only one determined to find out who killed his fiancée, Violet Violet.

Poor decision choices from Rachael Lane also started to make this show lose its momentum. At first she entered the stage with a tall posture, delivering her lines with a very impressive RP accent. However, the second time she entered the stage she was hunched over, and spoke with a rather odd Bristol accent. What’s more, her character started with a real fear of birds and chickens, yet when Geves (played by the comical Tom Bridges) enters holding one, she did not show any fear whatsoever.

In the end, we discovered that Scarlett Scarlett (Tessa Gaukroger) murdered Violet Violet as she wanted to be the only person that had a repetitive name. Not the most sensible of motives, but then again I suppose this added to the weird and wonderfulness of this show.

All in all, it was a good show that certainly made me laugh, but feel that some tweaks could help improve the show.

 

Reviewed by Jessica Brewer

Photography by Jamie Corbin

 

Leicester Sqaure Theatre

Murder, She Didn’t Write

Leicester Square Theatre

 

 

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