Image Credits:-
Many thanks to The Chameleons (in particular Daisy Wilkins) for kind permission to use their excellent photos. Some images created in Book Brush using Chameleon photos. Screenshot and one photo from the programme were taken by me, Allison Symes.
It’s always a joy to have a lovely night out at Ritchie Hall to see the latest production from our excellent local amateur theatre group, The Chameleons. This time Janet and I went to see Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor. (And yes I did have to fight the impulse to type Thornbury Wood there! Well, it is local!).
I have a soft spot for murder mysteries and this one was different in that the audience were able to interrogate the cast about “who did it”. It’s the first time I’ve been to an interactive murder mystery play and it was news to me there are such things. Naturally I have heard of murder mystery weekends etc but nothing like this for the stage. I live and learn!
Background
The play was written by Chris Lewis and Carol Hutton and was written so a cast of an acting company perform a “radio” script to the audience. The audience then question the cast and try to work out who the murderer is.
On arrival at Ritchie Hall, we were all told by members of the cast (already in character) we were entering a recording studio and we had to be quiet when the “On Air” button was lit. There were four prop microphones at the front of the stage and the cast came up (two or three at time depending on the scene requirements) to read from their scripts as they would do as if it was a real radio production.
Incidentally, you may think this may seem easy as there is no learning of lines to do. Not a bit of it. You still have to perform the lines. Those lines also have to tie in with the sound effects (and vice versa) and the Chief Sound Engineer (played by Marilyn Dunbar) and Assistant Sound Engineer (played by Nick Coleman) worked very hard all evening.
Let’s just say there was a lot of doors opening and shutting. Nick had a box which opened with a creak and then he would shut it hard for a slammed door, less so for a “normal” exit. He also held up scene cards (in reality A4 paper with a HUGE font on it!) showing the audience where the action was taking place.
It was also lovely to see the box full of gravel which Marilyn would walk on every so often to recreate the sound of someone walking on a path. Plus as a horse was mentioned in the story, naturally we got to see the traditional coconut halves being hit together to recreate the sound of horse hooves.
Story
The play itself is set in November 1954 and starts with the BBC announcer (played by Dave Wilkins) giving a short summary of the news at that time. Those news items are also referenced in the play itself.
The basic story is who killed the lead character, Richard Maltravers, who was a nasty bit of work guilty of almost everything going – betrays and beats his wife, gets the housemaid pregnant and then says he will “fix it” with the help of the dodgy Dr. Williams. And there is dodgy drug dealing going on too with Maltravers having given Dr. Williams what was supposed to be penicillin but wasn’t.
The character, the jockey John Cruickshank (played by Patrick Arnold), who is engaged to Alice Maltravers, the eldest daughter, lost his mother early in life thanks to her having been given this dodgy medicine. And he was only one who had a good reason to hate, and therefore want to do away with Richard Maltravers.
It was also clear Caroline Maltravers was keeping a huge secret, which Alan Smith the gardener and Susan Taylor the housekeeper seemed to have a good inkling about. Mysterious references to Tavistock in 1932 kept occurring as the story went on. It was clear Caroline could be vulnerable to blackmail and this was hugely relevant because her mother had just died, the story comes in with Caroline receiving that news, and a huge inheritance will be heading Caroline’s way.
Unfortunately for Caroline, Richard handles all of the family financial affairs and his business is in serious trouble… The plot thickens (as it should with a great mystery).
As with a classic Agatha Christie story, every other member of the Maltravers household, including the servants, had at least one good reason to want to do away with this man. Certainly within ten minutes of the play starting, I was wondering why the wife, Caroline, ever married him.
The Play and Then…
The cast performed the play first and that took about ninety minutes. Then the audience was given ten minutes to discuss amongst themselves who they thought the murderer was and why. The audience were arranged in tables in the hall. I was at Table A with Janet and others (maximum of six at a table) and we were given a cast list, pens and blank paper.
After our ten minutes was up, members of the cast came around to each table in turn to take questions from us. They had to answer truthfully with one exception. The murderer was allowed to lie. It was difficult coming up with questions, funnily enough. What did make me smile though was a note on the cast list we were given telling us we weren’t allowed to name the BBC announcer or the Sound Engineers as murder suspects!
Our table managed to get it down to two characters because either of these two could be lying because there were inconsistencies. It was then a question of working out who had the best motivation and then plumping for that option. We got that one right though another table did opt for the other possibility here. The audience also had to declare what we thought the motives were too and everyone picked understandable suspects with understandable motives. There was nothing “obviously wrong” about anyone’s selections.
Cast
The Chameleons have also had fun sharing via their social media pages pictures of the cast with their character names and some suspiciously punny names for who they are played by. See the slideshow for this. But the real names are:-
Announcer – Dave Wilkins
Chief Sound Engineer – Marilyn Dunbar
Assistant Sound Engineer – Nick Coleman
Caroline Maltravers – Georgette Ellison
Richard Maltravers – John Puzey
Alice Maltravers – Lisa Dunbar
Rebecca Maltravers – Angharad Warren
John Cruickshank (stable lad, aiming to be a jockey) – Patrick Arnold
Susan Taylor (housekeeper) – Jan Bradshaw
Mary Wells (housemaid) – Lucie Stranack
Alan Smith (gardener) – Wayne Bradshaw
Doctor Williams – Stuart WinebergAnd not forgetting:-
Lighting/Sound – Daisy Wilkins
Front of House Managers – Karol Cooper/Sian Hayden
Bar Managers – Roger Hester/Lorraine Biddlecombe
Director – Gilly Wilkins
Verdict
No spoilers here so I won’t give away how it ended, but the play and the performances were excellent. It was a hugely entertaining evening. I love links to history too and that happened here given The Chameleons’ programme included pictures of Broadcasting House and images of people gathering around their radio sets to listen to the latest story.
What’s Next For The Chameleons
Now this year is a special one for The Chameleons as it is their 60th anniversary. They will be holding an Open Evening on Saturday 7th June 2025 from 6pm to 9pm where people can go and see behind the scenes. It is a great opportunity to discover all which is needed for the company to be able to function so if you think acting isn’t for you so there’s nothing for you here, think again!
There are opportunities “behind the scenes” too and the Open Evening will give you a chance to find out more about this. The Chameleons are always looking out for new members and they cover all ages and theatre experiences (including none at all!). Also bear in mind, The Chameleons make their own sets so volunteers to help out here would also be appreciated. Plus someone is always needed to help out at the bar! So make a note in your diary and pop along on the 7th June if you wish to find out more.
Conclusion
I like crime stories, especially of the Agatha Christie mould, which Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor was an example of. The trick with these stories is to ensure all of the characters have reason to murder the victim and often the latter is a horrible person so you understand why the deed was done. As the story goes on more should be revealed about motivations and the murder victim. The plot does need to thicken as I mention above.
I liked the format of this show very much. It was fun and a different way to enjoy a crime story.
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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Such a beautiful review, Allison. We really enjoyed the evening. The structure was really great and we also got to know two new people at our table and tried to guess the real murderer. The sound effects were fantastic! I can’t wait to see their next show.
Thanks, Janet. It was a great evening.