A Mystery Gone Mad! Catch "Murdered to Death" at the Palace Theatre
- Izzy Siebert
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
A country manor, a ghastly murder, and a mess of mysteries! Murdered to Death turns an Agatha Christie-esque crime on its head, and hilarity ensues. Catch the final show of the Palace Theatre’s 2024-2025 season before it closes on June 8. Tickets are going fast!
Directed by James Noonan, this laugh-out-loud spoof plays with all the characteristics of a classic British mystery. There’s an isolated setting, a cast of suspicious suspects, and a detective who won’t let anyone leave until the culprit is caught. The catch? Inspector Pratt (Marc Motiejunas) is as unlikely to solve the mystery of common sense as he is to solve a murder!
As wealthy widow Mildred (Patti McFee) prepares to host a houseful of guests, she has no idea it's about to be her last hurrah. A dinner party that begins with a burned meal only grows more disastrous until the gathering has racked up a body count and plenty of pointing fingers.
Amongst the guests-turned-suspects are the Craddocks: Colonel Charles (Rick Smith), with his conveniently vague military past, and his sharp-tongued "old girl," Margaret (Holly Kinchlea-Brown). Pierre (Sam Didi), a suave French art dealer, and Elizabeth Hartley-Trumpington (Robin Pollock), a flirty socialite, both have secrets up their sleeves. Mildred's long-suffering niece, Dorothy (Julianna Goertzen), and ever-stoic butler, Bunting (Colin Arthur), round out the party.
When murder strikes, chaos follows with the arrival of the hilariously incompetent Inspector Pratt and his unfortunate sidekick, Constable Thompkins (James Sealy). Pratt's investigative instincts leave much to be desired, and exasperation mounts as the case crashes into a labyrinth of dead ends. Theories posed by nosy neighbour and amateur detective, Joan Maple (Natalie MacKay), are only slightly more enlightening than Pratt's own!
With quirk and commitment, the cast brings Peter Gordon's chaotic characters to life. From affairs to art forgery and from blackmail to backstabbing, the actors take each plot twist in stride, no matter how ridiculous the investigation gets. Strong pacing and dialogue wracked with endless misunderstandings are sure to entertain as, one by one, each character's secrets are revealed.
The plot thickens (or, in Pratt’s words, “the thick plottens!”) with the mystery of Mildred’s will. Who stands to benefit with her out of the picture? From red herrings to dramatic reveals, Murdered to Death is packed with a plot that will keep an audience of armchair detectives guessing.
It’s impossible to predict where this story ends up. The only way to unravel the mystery is to grab your tickets, settle in, and see who gets murdered… to death! Solve the murder before the show closes on June 8.