Murder at Midnight – Darlington Hippodrome

Writer: Torben Betts 

Director: Philip Franks 

Despite its title, and the fact that it is a spiritual sequel to Original Theatre’s serious thriller Murder in the Dark from a few years ago, Murder at Midnight is surprisingly a comedic farce. It contains lots of elements of the thriller and murder mystery genres but first and foremost clearly wants to deliver laughs. Writer Torben Betts states in the programme that he was aiming for something in the spirit of (TV show and subsequent play) Inside No. 9 and although it doesn’t quite hit the heights of that genius collaboration between Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, Murder by Midnight certainly sits comfortably in that wheelhouse and delivers enough shocks and chuckles for it to be mentioned in the same sentence.

The play opens minutes after a new year has started as police respond to an emergency call and discover five dead bodies in a house along with one (unseen) survivor. We then are taken back two hours to see how this bloodbath came about in the lead up to Big Ben’s “bongs”. This is a brilliant hook to grab the audience’s attention and makes this less of a whodunnit, and more of a who’s-done-in – something that Betts’ smart script keeps uncertain until the closing minutes.

So, we are now left wondering who will survive and who will die (and how) as we are introduced to our seven main characters. There’s Jonny “Cyclops” Drinkwater (Jason Durr), a one-eyed East End gangster dealing in drugs and murder, aided by his slow but loyal henchman Trainwreck (Peter Moreton). Jonny has arrived home unexpectedly at the same time as his girlfriend Lisa (Katie McGlynn) has brought home Paul (Max Bowden) for an illicit affair. Unbeknownst to Lisa, Paul is an (ineffectual) undercover policeman, using her to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Jonny’s wife a few years previous. One of the suspects is Jonny’s befuddled mother Shirley (Susie Blake) whose Romanian carer Cristina (Iryna Poplavska) has inadvertently led the mysterious masked burglar Mr. Fish (Callum Balmforth) to the house in the hopes of securing some of Jonny’s ill-gotten gains. The whole cast are soon trapped in the house due to Jonny’s vicious dogs patrolling the grounds, and the stage is then set for farcical misunderstandings and near misses, as well as surprise reveals and (literal) bloody murder.  

Murder at Midnight is a very strong production with an excellent cast. Durr brings great menace and charm to Jonny, Bowden expertly plays the buffoonish copper, and the ever-excellent Susie Blake gets some of the biggest laughs by delivering most of her lines completely deadpan. Moreton’s Trainwreck recalls the wonderfully oafish characters of Geoffrey Hughes, and McGlynn brings manic energy to her insecure and self-admitted “thick as mince” Lisa.

Colin Falconer’s simple but ingenious set portrays the required opulence while clearly setting out separate rooms for the various characters to move between, and Philip Franks’s strong direction brilliantly gives characters fun but never distracting bits of physical business at the times when they are visible but not the focus of the scene.

It is increasingly refreshing to see a stage production that is not tied to an existing intellectual property or a revival of a proven success. Original Theatre should be applauded for bravely bringing brilliantly crafted new works like this to an audience that is clearly hungry for… well, original theatre.

Runs until 4th April 2026