Nicely ironic title for this latest iteration of the spoof whodunnit – a genre in which myriads of thespians over many years have dunnit.
But done to death? Not quite, there’s still bags of life in this particular piece of nonsense.
Mounted, ostensibly, by a pair of aged theatrical luvvies, Sir Nicholas Collett and Sir Gavin Robertson (No names have been changed to protect the innocent, apart from the knighthoods, that is. They’re not innocent, but completely guilty of concocting this whole farrago of inept sleuthery).
The concept of the show is that the pair are the only members of a six-person cast who have made it to the Rondo; the others are stuck in a broken-down van on the M6.
Which means, of course, the two will play all the parts, entailing a lot of changing of hats, costumes and accents. Now, in order to create apparent chaos onstage, with apparently rubbish actors, and make it funny (which real chaos and real rubbish acting are not) actually requires considerable acting skill and very careful timing. Have these two got it? Yes they have.
The daft plot complications are not the real point of the piece. No one is enthralled by the question of who actually dunnit. The joy of it is in the portrayal of the personalities of the two, their theatrical critiques of each other, the dotty changes of character, the array of different accents, Poirot and Michael Caine particularly fine, the immaculately mistimed sound and lighting cues, the rapport between the two of them, and with the audience – all of it done with consummate skill. Great fun.
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Reviewer: John Christopher Wood | Star rating: ****