Review: Cluedo 2 is fiendishly good fun at The Lowry Theatre, Salford Quays

Following on from the smash-hit original play, which transported the world-famous whodunnit board game to the stage, this next chapter is set in the swinging sixties, and man are you in for a treat.

Coronation Street star and Strictly Come Dancing champion, Ellie Leach, headlines a ‘bloody’ brilliant ensemble cast as Miss Scarlett, just one of a number of potential murderers or even victims who bounce off each other in hilarious fashion.

Manchester lass Ellie is at home on the Salford stage as a very northern Miss Scarlett, who perhaps isn’t all that she seems. The original victim, hippy rocker Rick Black, is played by Liam Horrigan – dead good in the role pre and post-mortem – in scenes which deliver some of the darkest laughs.

It’s unfair to single out a prime suspect for praise as all the cast pull off their roles to perfection, Dawn Buckland relishing her role as the earthy Mrs White and Jack Bennett bringing a joyous camp energy to the role of Wadsworth, actor turned butler turned actor turned…

The plot centres around Rick’s eagerly-awaited comeback album, which he has produced for his supermodel wife, The Honourable Emerald Peacock (Hannah Boyce), which his American manager, Colonel Eugene Mustard, played with fiendish relish by West End and TV star Jason Durr, remains suspicious of.

Meanwhile, the arrival of Rick’s former song-writing partner “The Reverend” Hal Green, who disappeared mysteriously at the same time that Rick’s career went downhill, adds further suspense and music-related guffaws.

Grooving up the sixties vibe is Edward Howells as a very non-academic Professor Plum.

It is no surprise that the cast garnered so many laughs from the appreciative audience, which on opening night included several of Ellie’s ‘Street’ co-stars, as the script comes from the magical, and thankfully non-poisonous pen, of BAFTA Award winners Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, (Birds of A Feather, Dreamboats and Petticoats).

Mark Bell – director of the original hit UK production of Cluedo and the global phenomenon, The Play That Goes Wrong, again takes the helm for the sequel.

With more twists and turns than a country lane leading to a deserted manor house, the play is a rollicking, rocking good time with more punch than a lead piping and plenty of rope for budding detectives to cling onto as they search out the murderer.

Special mention must also be made for the ‘supporting cast’, that iconic board game backdrop of Cluedo’s rooms, which swirl effortlessly around our colourful characters in a visually stunning fashion at Rick’s Graveny Manor.

Cluedo 2, like its board game inspiration, really is fun for all the family, with a script suitable for most young people and all but the youngest children.

Cluedo 2 runs until Saturday, April 6th, at the Lowry’s Lyric Theatre, Salford Quays. Further information can be found at https://thelowry.com/whats-on/cluedo-2-2/