Writer: Dorothy L Sayers & Muriel St Clare Byrne
Director: Brian Blessed
Lord Peter Wimsey, English aristocrat and amateur detective is honeymooning with his crime writer wife, Harriet Vane. They’ve chosen a cottage they recently purchased in the country village that Harriet grew up in. However, despite their overwhelming love for each other, all is not well. Their house was not prepared for their arrival. In fact, no one knew they were arriving or that they now owned the house. Their chimney is completely blocked and the former owner, presumed missing by the locals, has been found in their basement, murdered.
And so, Wimsey and Vane’s marriage starts as much of their relationship has proceeded before. With murder and intrigue.
For those unfamiliar with Wimsey, his sleuthing tales formed the bedrock of most of Sayers’ crime fiction. Imagine Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot crossed with Bertie Wooster. Wimsey has that upper class foppishness so typified by Bertie Wooster, but a strong attention to detail and acumen to crack the most mysterious of cases.
Busman’s Holiday is typical of the English murder mysteries of the era. Wonderful between-the-wars setting, upper- and middle-class social etiquette in full flow, and a gathering of genteel countryfolk. Of course, as the murder is uncovered, each of these butter-wouldn’t-melt characters reveal a darker side to themselves giving them motive and opportunity to commit the crime.
Unlike Christie’s work, Sayers plays much more on the humour, and Busman’s Honeymoon is funnier and more socially observant than one might suspect, with gender and class issues popping up here and there. Brian Blessed’s direction is quite unlike his bombastic and loud personality. It plays very much to the humour of the script but also gives space to some of the more social aspects to resonate with more a modern take on such those themes.
Whilst the first half of the play is done at a rather relaxed pace, giving time to establish the characters and their respective situations, the second half feels a bit rushed. The jump from random testimony to the eureka moment, is achieved with such rapidity that you could be forgiven for thinking a chapter or two from the original text has been discarded.
James Sheldon shines as Wimsey. His inherently natural foppishness provides the humorous heart of the play and his delivery makes the script sing. He is brilliantly partnered up with Kate Tydman as his more grounded, but equally exuberant wife. The supporting cast all deliver sterling performances, though Noel White, as the comparatively laconic Superintendent White stands out. His calm and considered delivery makes him a calming counterpoint to the giddy, loved-up Wimseys.
Despite being the last Wimsey novel Sayers wrote, Busman’s Honeymoon is a great entry point to her writing and to Wimsey himself. Crime fiction fans will not be disappointed either. While this doesn’t have the more meticulous analysis of facts and circumstance that you’d get with Sherlock Holmes or Poirot, there’s enough on display to make the genre work effectively. And the resolution is both clever and plausible.
Runs until 25 June 2022. Note: all tickets include a Two-course meal
