Murder on the Midland Line

Murder on the Midland Line is later in the evening silliness that is best consumed after a few drinks. An unlikely story, with even more unlikely characters, it is sprinkled with some comedy gems and the capacity audiences are clearly having a good time. 

I’d advise against trying to make too much of the story and worrying about little details such as the timing between stations. This closed room murder mystery is kind of an antitheses to the well-known Last Train to Freo, set on the same train line but running in the opposite direction.

When unlikeable Pharmacy millionaire Dick Richards (Troy Coehlo) is stabbed to death early in the journey, it is up to Transit Guards, keen rookie Sal (Lucy Weisse) and the more lax Trudy (Hannah Quaden), to solve the mystery.

The suspects are an odd assortment of extremely different characters. There is mulleted tradie Bobby Wood, nurse Madi Sin (Milli Higgins), the very strange Wiccan influenced Tabitha Titlock (Orla Poole), wealthy pregnant woman Sara Kensington-Rose-Smith (Shakyra Baskeyfield) and spoilt rich schoolboy Henry (Matthew Jones). The roles are all played in extreme broad stroke, with everything larger (and louder) than life. There are some fine actors in this cast, but they are not playing depth or subtlety in this show - it simply isn’t the place.

Naomi Raven’s set is an excellent recreation of a Transperth train, with great attention to detail, with recognisable costume choices from Ella Cooke. Bec Price’s sound and lighting design (including realistic station announcements) adds great ring-of-truth and grounding in a show that steps out of the truth boundary at nearly every opportunity.

It is interesting that there has been a run of jokes aimed at Midland lately, with at least three references in shows this week. Have we moved away from Rockingham as the focus for our humour?

If you are looking for something oddball and bizarre, Murder on the Midland Line might just be a good choice.

Kimberley Shaw