Writers: Maurice Gran and Laurence Marks
Director: Mark Bell
A couple of years ago, the first stage play loosely based on the game Cluedo was a revelation: a sidesplittingly 
funny farce combining the best of many British comedy traditions. No doubt spurred on by that success, we now have Cluedo 2, penned by comedy royalty Maurice Gran and Laurence Marks, doing the rounds. But can it live up to expectations?
With witty dialogue full of incredibly well-done innuendo, terrific physical comedy, running gags a-plenty and a cast at the very top of its game, the answer is a resounding ‘Yes!!’
It’s the swinging sixties and we’re at the mansion of washed-up musician, Rick Black, where a motley crew of hangers-on have assembled. There’s his American manager, Colonel Mustard, his (Black’s) wife, Mrs Peacock (there is an explanation as to why she has retained her previous husband’s surname) and Black’s engineer and general gofer, ‘Professor’ Plum. Mrs White is the housekeeper, while interior designer, Miss Scarlett, has been employed to revamp the mansion. The egotistical and childish Black has had a pretty lean couple of years with two flop albums since the departure of his erstwhile songwriting partner, Reverend Hal Green, so everyone is relying on him to produce the goods this time. But when they gather to hear the tapes of his new Magnum Opus, it gradually becomes clear that he has been murdered, in the Study, with, well, a whole range of weapons.
To earn more cash, Black has gone behind Mustard’s back to film a commercial for gin, and its director, Mr Grey, and an actor-who-is-definitely-not-a-butler-but-is-playing-a-butler, Wadsworth, complete the main cast.
It’s no surprise that everyone benefits in some way by Black’s death, and, of course, everyone has at least one secret in their past.
While the plot does (just) work as a murder mystery, it’s incredibly convoluted with plenty of twists and turns and plenty more murders on the way. That’s by design, of course, allowing the sending up of many cosy country house murder tropes while metaphorically turning to the audience with a huge knowing wink.
The terrific physicality, sight gags and running gags mean that it’s no surprise to find that director, Mark Bell, also directed Mischief Theatre’s The Play That Goes Wrong, and that several of the cast are alumni of Mischief productions. The whole moves swiftly and smoothly. That’s aided by the scene design by David Farley: his largely empty stage is framed by outlines of the game board and gives a slightly vertiginous feeling while allowing for set elements to be whisked on and off to transport us to the various rooms with the transitions tightly choreographed by movement director Anna Healey. It’s all seriously impressive.
This is truly an ensemble piece. Each actor literally has a moment in the spotlight and some great lines and business – as well as occasionally dodgy accents – leading to a feeling of joy as the whole unfolds. Jason Durr brings us the blustering Colonel Mustard from the deep south to a ‘t’, while Kara Alberts-Turner is delightfully icy as Mrs Peacock. Hannah Boyce’s scouse Miss Scarlett clearly has something to hide, and Edward Howells is delightfully goofy as the hapless Professor Plum. Liam Horrigan’s Rick Black is wonderfully OTT, like Russell Brand on speed. Gabriel Paul brings us Reverend Green, with an obvious chip on his shoulder from the past. Jack Bennett’s Wadsworth has some great running gags and uses his frame well to communicate his growing irritation.
However, the comedy stand-out must be Dawn Buckland’s Mrs White. She has some super sight gags, regularly appearing as if from nowhere with a no-nonsense outlook.
The whole is laugh-out-loud from start to finish and, refreshingly, none of the gags outstay their welcome. It may not win any prizes for detective fiction, but it will send you out smiling broadly.
Runs until 27 July 2024 and on tour
The Reviews Hub Score
Murderously good
