(Pic: Greg Lee, Helena Joubert and Gillian Smith)Murder mystery thriller written as a hilarious farce presented to much enjoyment by the Westville Theatre Club. (Review by Maurice Kort)
The stage of the Westville Theatre Club's clubhouse, often used as an intimate dinner theatre venue to mount mini musicals and the occasional play, has been transformed into the sitting room of the home of Lady Amelia and Sir Malcolm Simpson-Squires in a beautifully designed box set by Coney Bundock (the director of the play) and Helena and Steve Joubert. It lends the right amount of class to such a home.
Lady Amelia (Dawne Oosthuizen), a novelist, is searching for new ideas for her latest mystery novel while Sir Malcolm (Charles Grey) sleeps off the excesses of another idle day. Their family friend Freddy (Simon Barff) is roped in to help submit suitable ideas. These are not coming easily. It was a slow start to the play, not helped by the three of them needing much help from the prompt, particularly Charles Grey, leading to much ad-libbing by him and hilarity from the audience. This was the Gala opening night and possibly some nervousness might be forgiven but it did bring down the usual professionalism of the Club's productions.
The pace picked up with the arrival of Greg Lee as Vic Tim - say this quickly and you get some idea of some of the clever dialogue of the play written by Ian Hornby. He is fatally shot by an unknown assailant, a revolver appearing from the front door to the room. The title of the play might indicate that it is a thriller and indeed it is, replete with murders and policemen, and even the little old lady who will solve the mystery, i.e. Miss Marbles - an Agatha Christie style Miss Marple (Gillian Smith). However it is also a hilarious farce - making fun of all thrillers and detectives. A feature of the play is that it steadfastly refuses to take itself seriously. The actors are well aware of the audience, often addressing them and referring to them when this is appropriate. There are therefore references to the script, the cast, the director and even the prompt. In the context of the play this actually works very well and adds to the fun - and the plot. Victim's (sorry Vic Tim's) body lying sprawled across the stage is a problem as it has to be removed since Greg Lee is to appear in Act 2 as the policeman, Detective Constable Vic Fickey. Did I mention that nothing about the play can be taken seriously?
Appearing periodically in the play are Smalls, the butler (Steve Joubert) and Mabel, the maid and cook (Geraldine (Jo) Mole). The pace of the play certainly picked up enormously in Act 2 when they were on stage a good deal discussing the ramifications of the murder and they played their parts very well. Lady Amelia and Sir Malcolm were also very well cast. Charles Grey, however, tended to shout a bit too much in the first act. Smalls and Mabel try to assist the police, Detective Inspector Dianne Sides (Helena Joubert) and WPC (Woman Police Constable) Eve Nunnall (Nokwanda Khambule). Being as glamorous as she is, and she looked the part, Sir Malcolm cannot keep his eyes - and hands - off her. Greg Lee as the policeman Vic Fickey stood out as the comedian of the play and often upstaged everyone else. His facial expressions and moves often spoke volumes.
During the course of the play the Director is also murdered, and there is even a suspicion that someone may have poisoned the audience. (They had been given milk chocolate marshmallow Easter eggs - a nice touch - when they arrived. This might only have been on the opening night but presumably this will continue).
Eventually Miss Marbles arrives. There is no love lost between her and the Detective Inspector. In true Agatha Christie style she reveals who the culprit is - or does she? There are nice twists to the tale and a great evening's entertainment is had by all in this three act offering by the Westville Theatre Club. Since the Prompt had a busy evening, one way and another, Kerry White deserves a mention, as does Ivor Bundock who handled the Lighting and Sound expertly. He had a good deal to do.
Hello Is There Any Body There? can be seen at the Westville Theatre Club, Attercliffe Road, next to the Westville Swimming Pool, on Thursdays to Saturdays from March 31 to April 9 at 19h30. Tickets R50 booked on 031 764 2559. Bring your own picnic basket with eats and drinks for a fun entertaining evening out. – Maurice Kort
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