Aaaaaagh! Murder! is a play full of good intentions but never gets to where it needs to be. A spoof of everything from Clue to The Mystery of Edwin Drood to your teenage murder mystery birthday party, this story takes place in (where else?) a gloomy manor in the English countryside.
Lord and Lady Killington (Nick Firer, also the playwright, and Claire Coyle) are having a dinner party, complete with well-worn tropes as dinner guests – the clueless American airhead starlet (Desiree Gibson, also the director), the doddering military man (Justin Brill, with an almost incomprehensible accent), and of course the butler, Winfield (Vic Issitude). As the guests gather around the parlor, they discover that all of the servants have been murdered. Aaaaaaagh! Enter the wry and witty Scotland Yard detective, Barnaby Tweed (Sean O’Connor).
The set is appropriate, the direction is solid, and the actors are game, but they get bogged down by a script that thinks it’s more clever than it is. A few line and tech mishaps led to some bright in character improv moments and in those moments I saw the promise of what might have been a solid comedy send-up.
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For more information on the show and to purchase tickets read this Fringe Preview.
