The night started off with
some very tense music which for some strange reason was booming out of the
speakers so loudly that you could see audience members having to shout to their
companions simply to be heard. The music
was a nice touch but could have easily been made into background noise without
too much difficulty.
The play essentially
revolves around a central character of Cyrus West who died exactly 20 years
prior and has specifically arranged for all of his living heirs to be assembled
together at midnight. This was for the
formal reading of the will and for the main benefactor to be revealed and
played out on an old gramophone in the corner of the room. This was something that was specifically
requested by Cyrus prior to his death – he was well known as a real eccentric.
Almost all of the many characters
were introduced to the audience during act 1.
The housekeeper Mrs Pleasant (Britt Ekland) and then all of the
different relatives and therefore potential heirs in Annabelle West (Tracy
Shaw), Susan (Marti Webb), Cicily (Priyasasha Kumari), Harry
(Gary Webster), Paul (Antony Costa) and Charlie (Ben Nealon) – all neatly
introducing themselves and their characters within the first few minutes of
arriving on stage. There was also Crosby
(Eric Carte) who was the lawyer and executor of the will – he had been a friend
of Cyrus and was very keen to carry out his wishes without exception.
It is hard to ignore many
of the stereotypical elements that a traditional murder mystery contains – it was
a dark and stormy night, crashes of thunder and flashes of lightning could be
seen and heard with some real sense of sinister timing. The strange noises and creepy soundtrack
continued throughout which added to the tension.
Act 1 took place solely in
the library of the Devon Moor manor house and sets up the storyline very nicely
with essentially all of the characters openly contemplating why they may or may
not end up being the sole benefactor.
There is added tension between Harry and Charlie who openly dislike each
other, Harry being the much more aggressive ex-boxer who cannot stand the actor
Charlie and threatens to fight him on more than one occasion.
Moving into act 2 took us into Annabelle’s bedroom for the evening which became the epicentre of activity late into the night with almost all of the cast visiting her at some point during the evening. Hendricks (Martin Carroll) had previously entered the library to announce that there was an escaped lunatic from a nearby asylum and this became a key element to the storyline.
'The Cat And The Canary' has all of the facets for it to be a brilliant production. There is no doubt that the plot has much to offer and is very well written, but it somehow falls short in many areas. There are most definitely some real comedic lines but they get very little more than a small acknowledgement from the audience as it all feels a bit too stereotypical and a bit too contrite. The ending was unexpected and interesting but felt like it was rushed.
There are some fine acting
performances, none more so than Antony Costa as the bumbling vet Paul. He plays the lovestruck fool wonderfully and
for me may just steal the award for the best performance of the night. Britt Ekland is clearly the biggest star on show
and it is hard to argue that Tracy Shaw does not do an excellent job as the
heroine Annabelle. However, these really
good acting performances are just not quite enough to rescue this production
from feeling dated and old fashioned.
'The Cat And The Canary' was
still an enjoyable watch and the actors did a fabulous job but I felt like it
could have been so much more.
Reviewer - John Fish
on - 25.10.21
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