Murder by the Book

A pedantic novelist/book reviewer, his estranged wife and his publisher are pitted against each other in a tricky plot in this slightly different murder mystery, that does, as director Margaret Olive suggests, “keep the audience grinning and squirming”. Add an attractive secretary, a strange neighbour, locked doors, a gun and poison and the possibilities might seem endless … as they are!

Playwrights Duncan Greenwood and Robert King have cunningly taken the usual features of the “mystery” genre and added so many unpredictable twists that it’s not just a “who dunnit?” It’s more complicated than that, and the surprises keep coming right until the very last moment.

The characters are very English, the dialogue very exacting. It is important that every clipped word is expressively delivered, without losing the tempo necessary in a play that has so many twists and turns. Olive has ensured all of that in a production is well rehearsed and carefully timed. The cast have developed their characters clearly and sustain the pace necessary to build the tension as well as making the most of the humour as the complicated plot – which would be spoilt by any attempt to summarise – is revealed.

Ross Alexander plays Selwyn, a best-selling, self-opinionated mystery writer whose book reviews are blisteringly critical. He’s not a very pleasant person and Alexander makes him sarcastic, spiteful and wickedly malicious – but also very suave and elegant, engaging the audience with expressive eyes, sardonic smiles and very effective comic timing.

Julie Mathers plays Imogen, his wife, who is equally elegant – and equally intelligent. Mathers uses fine timing, smooth, confident movement and gesture to define Imogen’s strength and tenacity. She matches Selwyn’s acerbic comments in quick, tart rejoinders. Both actors make the most of the cut and thrust that define how well-matched the characters are – and how fiery their marriage must have been.

Brian May is John, the publisher who is close to both protagonists but certainly not as smart or as astute! May makes him blundering, easily ridiculed and constantly confused. He blinks a lot and has trouble following the repartee that is so much part of Selwyn and Imogen’s conversation.

The secretary, Christine, is played with poise and efficiency by Fabiola Pellegrino. She is just a little sassy in her responses to Selwyn, but knows how far she can go.

Rawdon Waller is the neighbour, Peter Fletcher, who brings a different kind of humour to the production. Fletcher is an interloper, a bit of a busybody, and Waller makes him loose and gangly, popping around furniture and invading the personal space of whichever character he approaches.

The detail of the direction is matched by the detail in the costumes (Cettina Lahiri), the effects of both lighting (Wayne Chee) and sound (Peter Tucker) – and the set (Wayne Chee) which provides the necessary background to the action.

The title, Murder by the Book, is more than it implies. Margaret Olive and her cast and crew have produced a murder mystery which has not only the usual intrigue of the genre, but includes inferences about society, class, human nature and relationships. It is fun – and a little more thought provoking than your usual “English who dunnit” – and you still have another few more chances to see it.

Carol Wimmer

Photographer:  Kris Egan