THEATRE REVIEW: Murder At Cadberry Manor - Hope Street Theatre, Liverpool

It's always a pleasure for me to return to Hope Street Theatre in Liverpool. I performed in one of the very first plays here a few years ago (pre pandemic). The layout of the main space and seating has changed now to a fixed, standard 'end on' set up, with a decent sized performance area left deliberately empty so that theatre companies have some say over the staging of their shows. It was pleasing to see a near full auditorium to watch this romp, performed by 4AM Productions, set in the country house of Sir Toby LeRone (Phil Halfpenny).

Given the confectionery themed list of characters and venue (Cadberry Manor), I liked the idea of leaving a chocolate on each seat for audience members to enjoy! Digital only programmes via a QR Code you could scan is a new and innovative experience for me, a good way to save costs and help the environment.

Sir Toby has called a gala dinner to which an eclectic bunch of caricatured guests have been invited. However, the fun is soon spoiled when a disturbing murder occurs! Detective Harry Bo (Rafaela Dias) is called in to get to the bottom of things. But who did it? Surely, it wasn't the butler?

The aforementioned butler is Bournville (Jasmine Oates) who breaks the fourth wall to open proceedings and, for me, she was the stand-out performer of the large assembled throng. We are introduced to: Sir Toby's ex wife Veronica Viscount (Kristin Japp); son Robert (Sab Muthusamy) who has been on military duty and erstwhile girlfriend, air-headed would-be influencer Felicity Flake (Rosie Bennet). Also there are Lord and Lady Thornton (Alan Kenny and Lisa Morgan) – she gets increasingly drunk as the evening wares on, along with hard-working maid Malteaser (Lily Almond), bumbling Dr Wispa (Adam Titchmarsh), Friar Tuckshop (Tristan Harper) and legendary (in his own mind) artist Louis Pastille (Sean Campbell). Finally, lurking in the shadows, are criminal 'masterminds' Danny and Doug Drifter (Luke Bennet and John Reynolds).

At various times, there are nods to the Eurovision Song Contest currently going in the city, but, for me, these were distractions and did little for the storyline. These were provided by Luca Pagano who revelled in his cameo role. The props and costumes were excellent and credit must go to the technical and backstage crew for appropriate, if sometimes rather loud, sound effects. Stage lighting was good and well crafted. I was a bit surprised that the house lights themselves were dimmed whilst audience were taking their seats, which made things a little hazardous. Hope Street offer general admission with raked seats, which is great, because everyone had a clear view of the action.

In truth though, I personally didn't enjoy the show that much. Spoofs are difficult productions to deliver and I felt that the script was rather weak. This inevitably meant that larger-than-life, almost pantomime style acting was required at times. All the actors definitely went for it, staying 'on point' in their roles throughout and for that, I applaud them, making the most of what they were given.

There were a few overlong pauses, with no obvious reasons for them, and things were somewhat slow at the beginning of the drama. Fortunately, the pace picked up a lot in the second half as the body-count rose and the way people died certainly caused much amusement. The cast dealt well with the laughter from the audience and, generally speaking, everyone's diction was good with just a few too-quietly spoken sentences in the opening act. I won't say any more about the plot itself, as I don't want to give anything away, just in case readers of this review have booked to see one of the two remaining performances. Thank you to the staff of the theatre and the Arts Bar for their help.

Reviewer - David Swift
on - 11.5.23