Cluedo: A new British play, based on an American play, based on an American film, based on a British board game.
Michelle Collins, Etisyai Philip, Tom Babbage, Judith Amsenga and Daniel Casey in Cluedo | Photo © Craig Sugden
There are few surprises here with a raft of stereotypes in a house looking for a blackmailer to murder.
The iconic board game is known to many, and the script is most definitely rooted in the style of Agatha Christie and the Country Manor.
Having set the story against the Lynskey Tribunal which investigated government corruption seems somewhat topical but that aside; it is a paper-thin lighthearted play which veers from farce to melodrama with ease.
It is not about substance or character development, there is little to grab hold of in terms of storyline and at times it becomes confused and unclear.
The company work hard to keep the comedy alive, but it lacks the pace, energy and drive to make it the farce that it should be.
The best moments are rooted in the physical and slapstick moments of the direction by Mark Bell, unsurprising as he is the Director behind “Play that Goes Wrong”.
The company move props and sets in a neatly choreographed way but somehow the repetitive nature of this holds the action as there is little development in each sequence.
Jean-Luke Worrell is hugely entertaining as Wadsworth. Physically expansive with a great sense of timing. His synopsis of the play in Act 2 is a masterclass and the whole piece revolves around his presence and control.
This is an entertaining production that the large audience clearly enjoyed.
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Reviewer: Petra Schofield
Cluedo is showing at the Theatre Royal in Bath until Saturday 30th April 2022.
