A Play Less Ordinary

'A Tomb with a View' was the play and the Edward Alderton Theatre in Bexleyheath was the venue.

Technical difficulties and the lack of light to follow the script gifted to me meant I got a different slant on the proceedings than the other 79 patrons, although some of them were definitely certified members of the blue rinse brigade, so they may suffer from the same affliction.

A rather quaint set greeted us when the curtains parted, a well designed wood panelled library was to be the one and only venue of Norman Robbins' sinister murder mystery. It was all very wooden... The set, not the performances!

The lack of noise penetrating my delicate ear drums allowed me to focus on the themes and movements, as opposed to trying to follow the storyline. So to unravel the crime, I was looking for physical signs of guilt.

A rather dignified looking gentleman, brilliantly named Hamilton Penworthy, who appeared to be more like an undertaker than a solicitor kicked off the proceedings. For the next ten minutes we saw an influx of characters. Marcus Tomb, who looked as though he was at the wrong performance dressed in Egyptian robes, was ushered in by Anne Franklin, his nursemaid. Lucien, Dora, Monica and Emily Tomb were to follow. A vast array of different characters with seemingly unsavoury traits and habits.
The vultures were gathering to pick over the carcass, in this instance a will reading. Ermintrude Ash, Peregrine Potter and Agatha Hammond completed the lineup.

The will reading appeared not to favour any of the cast, judging by the uproar. That is when the grizzly murders began. A variety of means were used to knock off cast members. Marcus Tomb met a gruesome end by the way of a well aimed bullet. Emily Tomb, wearing a rather distinguishable fat suit, fell victim to a poisoned apple (one of the many things she consumed through out the play) and there was a stabbing somewhere in the middle. Now forgive me for getting a little bit lost here. The cast were disappearing quicker than the sweets stowed away in my jacket. Mine is not a fat suit, sadly.

Eventually all that was left was the foppish Peregrine, the vixen like Monica Tomb and the ever present nursemaid free from her shackles due to the untimely death of her charge.

The plot seemed to be wrapped up when Monica Tomb was wrongly fingered as the assassin, but her death had been faked. The villain was none other than the sweet and innocent looking Anne Franklin, who was slaughtered by the hands of Monica. Justice had prevailed and the audience were left to gather their thoughts and question their own judgements. I made the fatal mistake of not picking the least likely killer.


Quote of the Day: "Murder is always a mistake - one should never do anything that one can not talk about after dinner" - Oscar Wilde

Word of the Day: Hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian - Pertaining to extremely long words