Writer and Director: Adonis Kat
Composer: Dylan Owen
The musical murder mystery is ripe for an update and Adonis Kat and Dylan Owen’s new show performed as a workshop at the Etcetera Theatre has plenty of possibilities by cross-pollinating the genre with the High School movie in which a group of mean theatre students appear as suspects in the sudden death of classmate Kirsty. While Dear Diary has a created some interesting characters with a range of motives, the plot itself still needs a little untangling to create the drive and jeopardy this needs.
On arrival at the theatre, the audience is welcomed to a university open day and offered the chance to buy baked goods from a stall by the door, but the concept isn’t worked any further into the performance, instead taking their seats for a non-immersive murder mystery. Kirsty is killed at the beginning of the show during a blackout in the drama studio, leaving frenemies Lizzie, Danny, Fiona and Stefan in the frame, each with a particular axe to grind but they choose to protect each other until Kirsty’s diary is discovered.
The confusing greeting aside, Kat establishes the initial scenario very well with a Mean Girls meets Columbo style that instantly suggests a group with lots of secrets to mine throughout the show. Eventually these come to the fore during the character solos composed by Owen as each person reveals their last or most pointed encounter with Kirsty with motives ranging from unrequited love, jealousy and competition that come with their own dramatic flashback.
The focus remains entirely on the students and their troubled consciences. No adults appear in the story and the students are questioned by a voiceover artist and Kat does not include a detective character nor do the students themselves turn sleuth; this is no Scooby Doo gang trying to unveil a monster. Instead, they already know the truth and it is just a matter of time before the audience do too.
But Dear Diary starts to lose sight of its purpose with a number of meandering scenes set in the prison that don’t advance the story and instead the cast spend a great deal of time manoeuvring wire frames around as part of their musical choreography, a heavy-handed metaphor for their actual and emotional imprisonment. The diary revelations are also wasted, read aloud by the disembodied questioner (it’s never clear if this is the police or a College tutor) and the cast don’t react to them, despite the damning evidence they provide for their characters. These might be spread better through the story, adding drive as new revelations come to light in time for the solos. Dispensing with an unnecessary interval would also help momentum in a show with only an 80-minute running time.
Kat should make more use of the drama school setting and other than the group getting in a tizz about some monologues they must prepare before Kirsty dies, this could be any high school movie. It feels like a missed opportunity to include some theatre references that might add a little tongue-in-cheek levity to proceedings. Owen’s music though has a lot of potential, based largely on pop rather than musical theatre, while the choreography is drawn from music videos that often prioritises ‘sexy’ moves over lyrical sense, at least for the female roles.
The performers Abigail Hebdon, Chloë Easton Smiter, Juan Lobo, Ryan J. Edwards and Sofia Andolcetti are strong vocalists, although the microphones sometimes make the lyrics hard to hear. But they had plenty of friends in the audience who continued to film and take photos throughout the show with six people in a row openly filming one of the solos. Dear Diary has lots of the component parts it needs to develop this show but making a bit more of its theatrical setting will certainly add to the fun.
Runs until 16 April 2023
