Creators: The Rotunda Theatre and Chris Neville Smith
A different take on a beloved board game,It’s Not Cluedodelivers faithfully on the essence of Cluedo but, unfortunately… not much else.
Conceptually,It’s Not Cluedo sounds entertaining. Six guest performers of the Brighton Fringe are welcomed by our host, Chris Neville Smith, to each take on a role as one of the suspects in our game of ‘Not Cluedo’. Names, locations and weapons are chosen via audience suggestion and then we proceed to a line of questioning the suspects, eventually revealing where, how, and whodunnit. These are the building blocks of Cluedo brought to the stage and, with six charismatic comedians as our suspects, we expect an hour of colourful characters, wild accusations, and over-the-top murder mystery fun.
However,It’s Not Cluedofails to make any sort of shape out of the building blocks it has taken from Cluedo. The above description of events during our hour in the Rotunda Theatre is not a summary – this is all that happens. Smith’s confident delivery and ring binder of organisational prompts does help hold things together a little but after first quarter of the show has passed to admin, the audience is starting to get restless. Around this time is when the first of two semi-pre-prepared PDFs is pulled up on a projector screen and we’re told by Smith to ‘talk amongst ourselves’ while he types in the details.
Two rounds of questioning pass by over the next 45 minutes, which consists of a guest naming a suspect, location, and weapon to accuse (within a strict set of rules laid down by the host to keep things time-efficient) and being told how many correct matches they have. Through the formula laid down by Smith’s ring binder, this continues largely unaltered – and unexplained – until a guest reaches the correct trio of answers and is unceremoniously presented with a dirty £2 coin and we can all go home.
This is, technically, Cluedo. Smith has devised a clever line of deduction to get to a correct solution in the board game in as few moves as possible. Unfortunately, this does not make for a particularly entertaining watch. Smith eliminates possibilities without explanation, leaving a lot of gaps where the audience has to try and figure out what’s happening by themselves. A light-hearted heckle around midway through speaks for the majority of the audience when they say “I don’t know what’s happening!”
There are not enough chairs for the six guests. The secretarial responsibilities being given to anyone except the host would go a long way to improve things. Despite half a dozen test shows with the format, it’s very evident – as Smith repeatedly warns us – that this is the first show. The six guests do their best to summon interesting characters and fill in some much-needed comedy but there aren’t a lot of opportunities for character work or improvisational play. There is an interesting concept here but, unfortunately, whatIt’s Not Cluedohas removed from Cluedo itself is the character of it, leaving only the skeletal structure of its rules behind. It’s barely a game any more.
With more time given to the guest performers to play with the audience’s suggestions and a less rigid structure,It’s Not Cluedocould be a quirky murder mystery game. However, as it’s first performance went, the board game may be a better bet for entertainment value.
Runs until 25 May 2024
The Reviews Hub Score
Lacks character
