Writer: Elizabeth Wood
Director: Tess Adèle Glinert
Elizabeth Wood’s debut musical is a cosy crime story with a political edge. The murder of the title may take too long to arrive, but this show about three people and one cat growing flowers on an allotment in the fictional town of Lyminghurst is full of heart and hard to resist.
Hugh and Virginia spend their days pleasantly at their allotment plots. After tending to their plants, they relax in a couple of deck chairs reading the newspapers: The Telegraph for him, The Daily Mail for her. But their Conservative paradise is disturbed when immigrant Karwan arrives to take care of the adjacent plot. Virginia is furious that Karwan appears to have jumped the waiting lists for plots when she had to wait for 12 years to attain her patch of heaven.
Hugh is similarly put out, but at least he offers Karwan a proper spade to use when all he has is a trowel. Admittedly, Karwan himself is not that friendly to begin with and keeps his headphones on. He’s too used to being distrusted since he arrived in England. Even the allotment cat, Elton John, scratches him when he goes to pet it.
However, as the seasons pass, Karwan begins to make friends with the other two, especially Virginia, who sees in the young immigrant signs of her own son who died in his late teens, around the same age as Karwan is now. As summer hastens, the three prepare their plots for the annual competition, one which Hugh always wins.
It’s a warm, gentle tale with music to match. However, a couple of songs stand out, such as Karwan’s solo Break Your Heart and his duet with Virginia, Wake Up And Be Woke. In a nice touch, two songs return later on as reprises at the show’s end, including Hugh’s conceited solo, although its subject matter is recalibrated when it reappears.
As Karwan, Seraphim Gumede has the best voice, effortlessly filling up the Cockpit’s space. Like Gumede, the other two performers sing in their characters’ accents; ex-public school boy for Bret Jones’s Hugh and working-class Yorkshire for Katherine Glasson’s Virginia. The three work well together.
Director Tess Adèle Glinert plays the keyboards, and despite that being the sole instrument, the songs all sound different, with even a tango-inspired piece for Hugh and Karwan which includes a funny line about Miracle-Gro,
While Murder on the Allotment may not set the West End on fire, with a few more characters, some extra songs and a bigger band, it’s easy to see this going on a regional tour, especially in places where people would kill for a plot.
Runs until 11 August 2026
Camden Fringe 2026 runs until 30 August
