Review - The Mirror Crack'd - People's Theatre

The Mirror Crack'd

People's Theatre

20th January, 2026

The Mirror Crack'd transports us to a changing St Mary Mead - the quaint village has been invaded by new housing at The Development, and Hollywood stars who have taken over Gossington Hall. Each one has had an unwelcome effect on the status quo of the village. The Development has brought working class incomers, supermarkets and featureless housing, and distrust, while Hollwood has brought excitement, intrigue, brash glamour ...and, of course, murder. 

The murder victim is a local woman of no interest other than the fact that she has been murdered at the party thrown by Hollywood star Marina Gregg. 

As the investigation begins, the assumption is made that Heather Leigh has been murdered by mistake and that the obvious intended victim is none other than Marina Gregg. After all, it was Marina's fatally poisoned strawberry daiquiri that Heather drank, was it not? And what reason would anyone have to murder a nobody such as Heather Leigh? 

The suspects are identified - everyone who was at the party is questioned. Marina's husband is the key suspect; perhaps he needed money to fund his film-making and would inherit Marina's fortune? Or perhaps her staff held a grudge - she was a difficult person to work for.  Even Miss Marple's friend, Dolly, who has given up her home to these brash American's. No-one is beyond suspicion except Marina herself and Cyril Leigh, Heather's husband, a man of as little significance as his mistakenly murdered wife.  He is constantly brushed aside despite his many attempts to speak to Chief Inspector Craddock. 

The play is cleverly staged with the "off-stage" characters always visible, seated at the back of the stage and brought forward to replay their part in the events as required, and alongside them are the props and sound effects, doorbells and telephones ringing, doors banging... But watch carefully - not everyone is in view all of the time and perhaps, if the  audience is paying attention they may garner a clue or two in among the waiting props and characters? Who can tell? 

It's an interesting play. Miss Marple, hampered by a sprained ankle, is not quite at her sleuthing best and appears more affected by the train of events than is usual in previous mysteries. It almost feels as if the murder and its solution are almost secondary to the themes that are revealed.  Love and loss, parenthood, the nature of friendship, and of loyalty, are all key in this strange coming together of social classes. It is more about what appears to be true rather than what actually is true, and of the assumptions that are made based on people's social standing. The face that people show to the world is not always their true self, and sometimes the truly real people are barely seen at all. 

There are many red herrings, and of course a twist that you (hopefully) won't see coming at all. But Miss Marple, despite her distraction, eventually knits it all together. Sterling performances by all the cast who kept us guessing to the end in this clever and imaginatively produced play. 

The Mirror Crack'd runs until Saturday 24th January and is an excellent start to the People's new season. 

*images by Paul Hood

Denise Sparrowhawk

The Hollow - People's Theatre - Review

The Hollow
People's Theatre
18th Jan 2022 

You know that life is starting to get back to normal when you're at The People's Theatre for an Agatha Christie mystery in January! It's not entirely back to normal - Tuesday evenings are still socially distanced which meant there were lots of spaces between the audience and we were wearing masks, but we were at the theatre looking at the familiar set of an affluent country house living room, complete with French windows to the terrace. 

It's difficult to review an Agatha Christie without giving away spoilers - so suffice to say that someone in The Hollow comes to an untimely end and the rest of the cast are under suspicion, and each one as likely as the other to have committed the deadly deed! Personally I feel the victim may have deserved it, not the most sympathetic of the characters in this play and it's a tribute to the performance of the cast member (who I can't name as that would give too much away...) that I disliked them so much! 

The play follows the Christie formula - lots of suspects and lots of red herrings, hints at shared childhood experiences and past adventures and misdeeds amongst the characters, all of which add to the intrigue. the first Act builds to the climax of the murder with everyone in the audience wondering which one is for the chop. Act two introduces the detective and the long process of unpicking the puzzle and uncovering the murderer. I have to say, I had my suspicions, but Agatha is adept at throwing us off the scent so I did waver back and forth quite a bit, but in the end deduced correctly, without being entirely sure of the means! 

There is a great deal of character building and background filling, necessary but which did mean the suspense waned at times, plus this is a bit of an epic at over two and a half hours. However, that said  this is a well executed play with some really lovely performances. I particularly liked Kirstie Corfield as the eccentric and absentminded, but lovable, Lady Lucy Angkatell, and Steve Strouzer as the long-serving, stoic and loyal Butler, Gudgeon. 

The costumes were on point with lovely evening frocks and stylish day wear for the ladies, smart suits and tweeds for the gentlemen, and the set was a perfect rendition of the aforementioned country house.

Overall a great evening's entertainment - and if they could shave a few minutes off the running time would be the only improvement! 

The Hollow runs till Saturday 22nd January. It's well worth a visit to the Peoples Theatre and I would recommend it if you are making your first foray back into social events - their set up feels reassuringly safe and fuss free. 

Denise Sparrowhawk

Review - My Cousin Rachel - Royalty Theatre

My Cousin Rachel
Royalty Theatre
29th Oct 2018


Written by Diana Morgan 
Based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier


My Cousin Rachel is a tale of suspense and murder. Philip Ashley has travelled to Italy after he receives the news that his cousin Ambrose is seriously ill. He receives a number of letters that cast suspicion on Ambrose's new wife. When Philip arrives in Italy he discovers Ambrose has died and the funeral has already taken place. The new wife, Rachel, has disappeared.

The play opens as Philip returns to his home in Cornwall and has to recount the strange situation to his guardian Nicholas Kendall. While they wait for Philip, Nicholas and his daughter Louise discuss the sudden and surprising marriage between Ambrose and Rachel. Louise is sure that Rachel must be extraordinary and beautiful, since she managed to capture the heart of confirmed bachelor Ambrose Ashley. 
Philip is convinced that the letters he received from Ambrose prove that his death is suspicious and that Rachel and her Italian friend Rainaldi are involved. Why else should she have left so suddenly after the funeral? 

James Errington acquits himself well as the young Philip Ashley, seduced by the beauty of his older cousin Rachel, yet suspicious of her involvement in Ambrose's death. His performance gathers strength as the conflict pushes him to a kind of madness.  Olivia Bowern is rather aloof as the grieving widow making the character difficult to read - which perhaps was the intention of the director. The play hinges on the doubt surrounding her - is she a cold blooded murderer or simply an unfortunate, misunderstood widow?

The outstanding performance of the evening goes to Stephanie Cubello whose playful portrayal of Louise Kendall provides the most engaging and convincing character in the play.

The drama and suspense is heightened throughout the play by an excellent choice of background music and very slick lighting.

The play has been likened to an Agatha Christie suspense - and the ingredients are there. A suspicious death, strange letters, a widow left with nothing, a naïve young man just ripe for manipulation by a beautiful, older woman and a small country village rife with rumour.

I'm sure Du Maurier's novel conveys all the expected tension and suspense, but for me it somehow doesn't translate into this stage adaptation by Diana Morgan. A lot of scene setting and background information has to be given through the dialogue and it lacked the flare and finesse of a Christie play, though it does have a killer twist at the end. 

The audience this evening however was fully engaged and displayed appropriate amounts of surprise, shock and awe throughout - most notably when Philip, in a fit of rage, throws a candlestick which bounces back with some force! (I'd like to see more of this sort of passion from the actors - after all two of the characters are Italian!) 

My Cousin Rachel plays until 3rdNovember. It has some excellent dramatic moments and some strong performances and it will keep you guessing - till the end. 

Denise Sparrowhawk

Go Back For Murder - Review - People's Theatre

Go Back for Murder
People's Theatre
16th Jan 2018

There's nothing like a bit of murder and suspicion to start the year off and The People's Theatre have it down to a fine art with the annual Agatha Christie mystery. This year they have chosen Go Back to Murder - in which the crime has been committed, and the suspect tried and sentenced 16 years earlier. But has the right person been convicted?

Carla le Marchant (Ri McArdle)  receives a letter on her 21st birthday, written by her mother just before she died. In the letter her mother Caroline Crale professes her innocence of the crime of which she was convicted. She did not murder Carla's father Amyas Crale. The contents of the letter are a shock to Carla and to her fiancé. His reaction - magnanimous, but perhaps insincere - prompts her to begin an investigation to prove her mother's innocence.

And so she meets with the six people who were there at the time of her father's death to try to piece together what happened, and solve the puzzle of her father's death and her mother's conviction. As she speaks to each one begins to piece together an impression of her parents' relationship with each other and their friends. Like a patchwork quilt, there are many threads and many little pieces that come together to make something.  Carla becomes more and more convinced of her mother's innocence and we, the audience, begin to see that the six people involved each had a motive for murder. But who had the opportunity, and why if she was not the guilty party did Caroline not put up more of  a fight in court?

This is a rather sedentary play, since there is no dramatic murder on stage, it relies on dialogue rather than action to progress the story. But there is also passion, jealousy, betrayal, love and loyalty played out within the words. A simple split set and clever spotlighting create atmosphere and build suspense.

The characters are diverse, and each one is played convincingly. Stand out performances for me come from Catherine Ellis as Angela Matthews, convincing as both the rebellious 14year old and the older, more cynical adult; Karen Elliot as the formidable Miss Williams and Gordon Mounsey as the rather prickly and supercilious Philip Blake.

By the end of Act One I had a good idea of who the true murderer might be...in Act Two I began to doubt. In true Christie style the finger of suspicion points at everyone as the play progresses - it seems I had fallen for one of the many red herrings! A testament to Christie's skill as a writer, and to the direction of Philip Bradley, we are misdirected and kept guessing to the very end.

Go Back for Murder plays until Sat 20th. Go see if you can do better than I did at solving the puzzle. I bet you can't!

Denise Sparrowhawk

Preview - Go Back For Murder - People's Theatre

The People's Theatre are set to start the New Year with the Queen of Crime Agatha Christie! Their January whodunnits always prove popular, and last year’s The Unexpected Guest delighted audiences with its gripping twists and turns. 

In GO BACK FOR MURDER, Carla le Merchant is determined to find out the truth about who murdered her father. It’ll keep you guessing until the end, and promises to be lots of fun along the way!

 
So who is in the frame for the murder of Amyas Crale? Only six people were present when he was poisoned. It must have been one of them.






Caroline Crale? The wife he cheated on, who was found guilty of poisoning him. However, in a letter from her prison deathbed she told her daughter Carla that she was innocent of the crime. Was she telling the truth?

Meredith Blake? An old friend of the family who harboured a secret passion. He was an amateur herbalist and distilled his own poisons. Did he administer the deadly hemlock?

Philip Blake? A confirmed bachelor and best friend of Amyas. He was once briefly in love with Caroline but she rejected him in favour of Amyas.  Did long-standing jealousies finally lead to revenge? 

Elsa Greer? The lover of Amyas and model for his final painting. They were having a passionate relationship - did that passion boil over into murder?

Warren? The 14-year old stepsister of Caroline Crale. She was jealous of Amyas’ relationship with her sister and was being sent away to school. Is that a motive for murder in a teenager’s mind?

Miss Williams? The governess to Angela who disapproved of Amyas’ affairs. She was strongly protective of Angela and Caroline. Could that make her a killer? 




PHOTOS: Paula Smart

LISTINGS INFORMATION –
Go Back For Murder by Agatha Christie
DATE:   Tuesday 16 – Saturday 20 January 2018
TIME:   7.30pm
VENUE: People’s Theatre, Stephenson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 5QF
TICKETS:  £13.50 (Concessions £11)
BOX OFFICE:  0191 265 5020
WEBSITE:  www.peoplestheatre.co.uk

And Then There Were None - Review - Royalty Theatre

And Then There Were None

Royalty Theatre 
19th September 2017

The stage is set for Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" - as the house lights dim, the stage lights come up to reveal a drawing room, the furniture covered in dust sheets, curtains drawn across French windows. Two servants enter and begin to remove the sheets - Mr and Mrs Rogers (Lee Wilkins and Emma McLeary) are preparing for the arrival of house guests, they reveal that the hosts have been detained and that the first of the guests are due to arrive.
Fred Narracot (Ben Gettins), the local boatman, has delivered the supplies and is sent off to bring the guests across by boat. The house - Soldier House - is set on an island accessible only by boat, and with no telephone or other means of communication with the outside world. Eight guests are expected, they are all strangers to each other, their only connection that they have been invited to stay at the house by the hosts Mr and Mrs Owen, and that  each one has a secret from their past, a secret they would rather no-one else knew about. These secrets will have dire consequences for each guest and the Rogers.

Act One introduces the characters one by one, the glamorous Vera Claythorne (Helen Bowie) and the suave Philp Lombard (James Errington) arriving together, followed by the spoiled rich boy Anthony Marstsen (David Ford), the South African millionaire Mr Davis, alias William Blore, ex policeman (John Appleton), the eccentric General McKenzie (David Armstrong), self righteous Emily Brent (Christine Appleton), the superior Judge Lawrence Wargrave, and the very nervy Dr Armstrong (Chris Renney). They are a disparate group in both social standing and character, with no obvious connection and seemingly no idea why they have been brought together on the island. Each one has a different story as to how they were invited. As the act progresses their characters are revealed leading to the surprising climax of the act - an anonymous recording revealing each ones' secret, the accusations against them, and the death of the first victim. As the characters realise that one of the soldiers on the mantel is missing the lights go down silhouetting them against the windows of the drawing room, and the curtain falls on Act One. It is a dramatic end to the Act.

In Act Two the bodies begin to pile up as characters drop like flies. Suspicions rise, accusations fly and tempers flare as the horror of their situation dawns and one by one the characters fall.

The tension and suspense are nicely done. Seeming friendships and alliances are formed and lost as suspicion grows. Outbursts of anger and frustration hint at who the killer might be - perhaps Mr Rogers or Vera Claythorne? Or perhaps Dr Armstrong or Philip Lombard? Everyone is a suspect. The only certainty is that those who have already died cannot be the murderer.  Or can they?

There are some strong performances - particularly by Lee Wilkins, Helen Bowie, James Errington and Andrew Barella, though to be fair everyone in the cast gives a decent performance. Dramatic and timely use of sound and lighting enhance the tension throughout. The stage set is uncluttered and the costumes pleasingly understated (apart from the swaggering Philip Lombard - that blue suit is a killer!).  Billy Towers and Abbi Laidler direct with a deceptively light touch.

A solid opening for the Royalty's new season. If you have not read the book, this will keep you guessing - if not whodunit, then why and how?
And Then There Were None runs until Sat 23rd Sept.
Denise Sparrowhawk

Preview - And Then There Were None - Royalty Theatre

ROYALTY THEATRE TO PRODUCE AND THEN THERE WERE NONE

Helen Bowie  

(picture credit Royalty Theatre)

The Royalty Theatre will open their 2017/18 season with a production of the Agatha Christie hit And Then There Were None.

The mystery thriller by the world’s bestselling author (which was recently made into a BBC mini-series starring Charles Dance, Miranda Richardson, and Aiden Turner) follows a group of strangers invited to stay at a house on a remote island.  Each is revealed to have a dark secret buried in their past – but when the guests begin to die one-by-one in mysterious circumstances, it becomes clear that the murderer may be one of them.

Director Billy Towers says, “And Then There Were None is a classic Agatha Christie thriller. Although first published as a novel in 1934, the passage of time has not dimmed its suspense, mystery or the brilliantly drawn characters which make for a great thriller. It’s a tremendous example of the thriller genre at its best, and one I can confidently call it a timeless classic.”

The play features a large cast, including Helen Bowie as Vera Claythorne, James Errington as Philip Lombard and Andrew Barella as Justice Lawrence Wargrave. 

And Then There Were None runs from 18^th to 23rd September.

Tickets can be booked via www.ticketsource.co.uk/royaltytheatre or on 0333 666 3366.

The Unexpected Guest - The People's Theatre - Review

The Unexpected Guest
The People's Theatre
17th Jan 2017





Somewhere in the remote welsh countryside wreathed in fog, a man blunders into a house seeking help. Lost in the fog he has run his car into a ditch and sought out the nearest house to beg use of a telephone and possibly a bed for the night. Unfortunately for him the house he finds is  the scene of a very recent murder...

The scene is set -  a fog of dry ice hangs in the air in the auditorium, on stage a room in darkness, a figure in an invalid chair silhouetted against the dim light from French windows. Someone knocks at a door, a voice calls out and a figure appears entering tentatively shining a torch into the room and speaking to the person in the chair. When no response is forthcoming he shines the torch at the person asking if he is asleep...he gasps and scrabbles to find a light switch. the man in the chair is dead, and in the corner stands a woman holding a pistol.

And so begins The Unexpected Guest begins. Richard Warwick has been murdered. His wife confesses to the unexpected guest but instead of phoning for the police he helps her establish an alibi and comes up with a plan to blame the murder on an old enemy. We have no idea why he would do this. he has no connection to the family - he seems simply taken with the beauty of the lady of the house and opts to help her. The alibi is set, the rest of the house are roused to discover the grisly murder and the police are called. In the morning each member of the household is called to account for their whereabouts at the time of the murder. Questioned by Inspector Thomas it becomes apparent that everyone in the household knows something more than they are telling.

The audience has the advantage of knowing that the story given by Laura Warwick and Michael Starkwedder (the unexpected guest) is a complete fabrication, and little by little we discover that Laura's confession is also false (that's not really a spoiler it is clear she is covering for someone, again, the question is who?).  So who in the household is the murderer? Everyone has a motive, Richard Warwick it is revealed was a despicable and cruel man, spoilt by his life of privilege and further ruined by the accident that took away that privileged life.
The characters one by one reveal their hands, the blackmailer, the lover, the all knowing "loyal" retainer, the downtrodden and the diminished family members. Each one played beautifully, revealing just as much or as little as needed to keep the audience guessing. Red herrings and false trails abound, and Inspector Thomas methodically works his way through the evidence - you feel certain that he will eventually unearth the truth. His doggedness is complemented by the the poetic Sargent Cadwallader. Steve Hewitt and Richard Gardner are a delight throughout, playing the two policemen systematically providing the audience with information, highlighting clues, revealing motives, illuminating character and background.

Other standout performances for me were Sam Hinton as the mysterious, unexpected guest Michael Starkwedder and Callum Mawston as the ingenuous, childlike Jan Warwick, though all the performances were well played and convincing. Jess Chapman and Vanessa Aiken have produced a tense mystery which leaves the audience guessing throughout. Excellent.

The Unexpected Guest is visiting The People's Theatre until Sat 21st Jan.

Denise Sparrowhawk
Photographs courtesy of Paula Smart

Murder on the Nile - Review - People's Theatre

Murder on the Nile
The People's Theatre
19th Jan 2016

Agatha Christie is without the doubt the Queen of the Whodunnit. In Murder on the Nile she sets up the perfect scenario. She combines a confined space, no opportunity of escape, hot sultry weather, and an unlikely collection of people - supposedly random - with a surprising number of connections which Christie drip feeds to us as the play progresses. Social class, politics, religion, clash with jealousy, betrayal and money producing an explosive and fatal mixture for two fo the characters.
Right from the start we know that someone will end up dead by the hand of another on the ill-fated cruise down the Nile. But which character will die at whose hand? And will the audience and the rest of the cast manage to solve the mystery?

We have the rich spoilt socialite Kay (Sara Jo Harris) on honeymoon with her socially inferior husband Simon (Ian Willis), the cynical socialist Mr Smith, (Jake Wilson Craw) who seems to be a complete misfit amongst the rest of the monied and socially self-conscious passengers, Mrs Ffoliot-Ffoulkes (Karen Elliot), excruciatingly aware of her own worth, and her niece Christina (Rachel Scott) - the only genuinely nice person on the boat! Dr Bessner, (Steve Strouzer) a foreigner who we discover has a grudge against Kay's father, and Jacqueline (Alison Carr), the former best friend of Kay and jilted fiance of Simon. Are you following so far? Each one has a possible motive for murder.

As the play progresses and the tension and temperatures rise, it is left to Canon Pennefather to seek out the clues and uncover the truth. But he is not free of suspicion himself - how did he come to be on the boat on the Nile? Was it pure coincidence or is there more to his presence?

The cast act their parts convincingly - the audience is drawn in to the mystery, weighing up the characters and assessing which has the greater motive and opportunity for murder, guided by the good Canon and, of course, in the end all is revealed! Good performances from Alison Carr (who does play the emotional, overwrought female so well), and Jake Wilson Craw as the intriguing Mr Smith. David Downing holds the plot together nicely as the sympathetic and supportive clergyman with an investigator's mind!

The first act sets up the scenario so that the audience are au fait with all the characters and as such was a little drawn out, but the second act has much more action and humour as the plot unfolds and individuals' foibles are revealed and elaborated on.  There are a couple of strange anomalies - the steward (Steve Hewitt) is conspicuous by his absence in the second act and the boat's Captain appears from nowhere after the shootings as if his role is entirely there to justify Canon Pennefather as the lead investigator.
The set and costumes are sumptuous as to be expected, and the atmosphere and setting are enhanced with Egyptian music and sultry jazz throughout.


A fair production for Sean Burnside and Matthew Hope in their first foray into directing, Murder on the Nile plays until Saturday 23rd Jan.

Denise Sparrowhawk