Rossendale Players review: Murder in Play, by Simon Brett
There’s ‘Murder in Play’ at the Rossendale Players’ New Millennium Theatre this week and it’s gloriously fun.
The Players return with that they do best – laugh-out-loud, riotous and murderous fun as Simon Brett’s light-hearted whodunnit is brought to the stage.
Players regular Liam Husband takes centre stage off-stage as enigmatic director Boris Smolensky, the larger-than-life Russian with an eye for the ladies, and perhaps an eye for murder?
Liam has great fun playing the hapless director attempting to put on a murder mystery play with a ragtag bag of actors including significant other, diva Renee, played with glorious full-throttle by Sara Smallman.
Her love rival comes in the form of Players debutant Faye Morgan playing wide-eyed actress Ginette Vincent, as if she has been on stage for years.
Real director Andrew Husband guides his cast with a steady hand in this knockabout fun with layers of mystery and lashings of laughs.
No mean feat considering Murder in Play is a classic ‘play within a play’, a concept that could prove difficult for some casts with actors having to swap between roles but there were no such problems here with the Players’ stupendous cast of casts.
Regular Paul Higginbottom as the sozzled thespian Harrison Bracewell garners plenty of laughs, as does the ever-talented Daniel Starkie, who you would not know stepped in at the last minute as an emergency cast member.
The play also sees the return of the fantastic Cassie Hardman, back for her second production with the Players as the sharp, no-nonsense actress turned sleuther Sophie Lawton.
Multi-talented Kathryn Bland juggles not one, not two, but three hilarious characters, buzzing with energy.
Lastly, but not leastly, Dorrie Partington makes a welcome return to the stage after 10 years as dogsbody Pat, a put-upon handywoman who may well have more secrets and layers than originally seems to be.
As ever, the New Millennium Theatre stage in Waterfoot is perfectly set up as, well, a theatre within a theatre.
If you enjoy an escapist, light-hearted, hilarious and clever whodunnit get yourself to said theatre for Murder in Play, which closes on Saturday, June 7th.