Skip to main content

Review of Crimes Under The Sun at The Core, Corby

It is safe to say that there have been a lot of Agatha Christie spoofs kicking around over the years, they are ripe material to plunder, and often feeling as if the original author was even sending them up at times as well. So, to discover another one on stage at The Core Theatre in Corby is no surprise.

New Old Fiends' Crimes Under the Sun is a patch above many of them, a speedy, witty and genuinely ingenious take on a Poirot influenced case (no prizes for guessing Evil Under the Sun). As our lead, we have a curiously Belgian detective Artemis Arinae, Poirot in all but name, and more specifically gender (it's the first thing I noticed about her, to steal a joke). The show opens relatively badly, with a rather long introduction from our detective played by Jill Myers. It is the only downside of the evening, as once the stage is full of the quite brilliant collection of characters, this show whips along with an amazing intensity.

The characters created in Crimes Under the Sun all feel very like Christie like, just a little heightened. Myers Arinae is a smart clever female conception of Poirot, happy to peddle the line "little grey cells" out at many an opportunity. There is some nice play of creating a female detective here as well, especially with a nice pay gap conversation between her and Inspector Aquafresh which got the audience rippling.

Packed full of amazing over-the-top characters, Crimes Under the Sun truly is entertaining. It's is true though that Jonny McClean manages to steal every scene he appears in. He is superb as the physically adept Alcazar, creating some disturbing postures to make you squirm. Perhaps his biggest impact though comes from his first appearance as Lucian, a masterstroke of comic genius. A star turn.

Feargus Woods Dunlop has great fun with his trio of characters, perhaps the best of which is the sex-obsessed Father Ginnell. His exchange though in the character of Nelson Cholmondeley with Alcazar is a fabulous though, and I did delight in the idea of Arinae typing the name away as it was spelt, a neat touch.

Completing the quartet of cast members, who bring the 14 characters to the stage is Heather Westwell. She is a delight as Rose Wentworth, creating the perfect English rose, with a wonderful slightly looking to the sky posture, simply divine. At odds with this is her moment of intense slapstick as three PC's, brilliantly performed and just simply hilarious.

There is one curious break from standard proceedings when all of a sudden the cast burst into song. It works, just, simply because of the skill of the cast to recreate each of their individual characters so well. It ends up being a nice diversion, once you have got over the initially confused moment.

The intensity of the performance never diminishes and heads for a crazy paced and amazing denouement as the three actors have to bring to life every character on the stage at the same time. The inventiveness of this is a delight to see, and it also highlights once the brilliant set from Carl Davies. Incredibly simple to look at, but it adapts so well into the several locations needed, and I really loved Westwell's set changing cleaner, complete with a fag in mouth.

James Farrell directs with a nervy edge which keeps everything flying and his skilful cast is able to keep up with the antics. I did feel that there were a couple of long moments where there was a restricted view for those left of the theatre, with the policeman scene clearly blocked for some by the inspector and a coat stand blocking Westwell in the denouement scene, but these were minor quibbles on a generally excellently created pierce.

Crimes Under the Sun is very well written (by Dunlop), there are some brilliant jokes (the silver salver and a certain flag spring readily to mind) and word interplay, and even in its madcap moments, you have to appreciate that it's actually very cleverly constructed as well. A genuinely fun piece of theatre, which is worth catching if it's heading near you in the final few nights of its tour.


A comic caper that is to die for.
½

Performance reviewed: Thursday 18th May 2018 at The Core, Corby.
Crimes Under The Sun is currently touring, with details at http://www.newoldfriends.co.uk/
For further details about The Core see their website at https://www.thecorecorby.com/

Photos: Pamela Raith Photography

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Murder She Didn't Write at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Murder She Didn't Write , stopping off for a four-day run at Royal & Derngate on a lengthy UK tour, treads the now well-worn path of an improvisational evening of theatre entertainment. Unsurprisingly, from the title, this show from Degrees of Error's takes a murder mystery as its inspiration, with the story influenced by ideas from the audience each evening. Due to this, Murder She Didn't Write and a review are very much an individual affair. What I saw in my evening at the theatre will differ significantly from what the audience will see the following evening; however, the fine performers will remain. The touring cast, in no particular order, is Lizzy Skrzypiec, Rachael Procter-Lane, Peter Baker, Caitlin Campbell, Stephen Clements, Douglas Walker, Harry Allmark, Rosalind Beeson, Sylvia Bishop, Emily Brady, Alice Lamb, Sara Garrard, Peta Maurice and Matthew Whittle. For my performance, Skrzypiec, Procter-Lane, Baker, Walker, Bishop, and Clements were on stage alongsid...

Review of Immune by R&D Youth Theatre at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

The cover note for the script of Oladipo Agboluaje's Immune describes it as "a challenging science fiction play with a large cast", and the word challenging in this case is not a lie. This is a fast paced, multi-cast changing script which leaves little room for error for its young cast in the performance. If the script isn't enough to handle for the young performers, director Christopher Elmer-Gorry and designer Carl Davies have made the situation even more complex for the actors with the set and stage work. Having to manhandle great panels on wheels and a huge cube, which also splits in two occasionally, during scene changes requires skill, coordination and cooperation of a high level. As if all this is not enough, the actual story is epic enough for the relatively small stage of the Royal. Attempting to form an apocalyptic world (albeit only happening in Plymouth) offers challenges in itself, but Agboluaje's script does that in a sort of apocalypse in the teac...

Review of Bat Out Of Hell - The Musical at Milton Keynes Theatre

Bat Out of Hell - The Musical was first realised as a stage musical back in 2017, opening at the Manchester Opera House. Since then, it has achieved significant international success. Now, as part of a new UK tour, it has returned to Milton Keynes Theatre, which it previously visited in 2022 during its global tour. The storyline of Bat Out of Hell , written by Jim Steinman, draws on the story of Peter Pan as a basis and evolves it within a dystopian world, where a group of teenagers known as The Lost live forever at the age of 18. This plot is both flimsy and initially confusing; however, within the music of Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman, it finds a rough-around-the-edges polish that allows this weakness to shine through and succeed. At the centre of this group of teenagers is Strat, who, following an unexpected encounter, falls under the spell of Raven. Within this, a megalomaniac lurks, as all dystopian worlds require. This maniac is Falco, the father of Raven and Sloane's husband....