Review: MURDER, SHE DIDN’T WRITE, Aylesbury Waterside - Tour
Photo credit: Pamela Raith
Having seen the one-hour Edinburgh Fringe version of Murder, She Didn’t Write in August 2017 at the Pleasance Courtyard, we were intrigued to see how it translated to an extended version (with an advertised running time of two hours including a 30-minute interval) as it continues to tour the UK in one-night stops at traditional theatres.
The set of smart free-standing flats promises some variation in setting and as Peter Baker takes their seat stage left in Columbo style mackintosh; they start to scan the audience as they arrive. Stage right, a pianist plays a mysterious underscore. They promise mystery and mayhem, and as Willie Solvit boldly states, there is no prepared script with the words made up as they go along. We suspect that after thirteen years there will be multiple bits of business and jokes that have been played many times before .
Indeed, a clear formulaic structure is soon apparent over five acts. Act 1: Solvit selects Jerkins from audience (in the front row) who is invited to pick from audience suggestions of a location where suspects are gathered and an unusual item involved in the case. This provides the basis of the improv that follows, and the comedy will only be as good as the opportunities the suggestions create in the performer’s minds. Sadly, too often the ideas suggested try too hard to be funny in themselves. Certainly, a joust and a rubber chicken didn’t look promising at the start but there were some good moments with the imagined horses and pseudo lances.
In Act 2, we meet the five suspects (one of whom will later be selected as victim) all helpfully colour coded in costumes (as in Cluedo) with Felicity Blue, Anthony Green, Violet Tamworth, Arnold Red and Barbara Gold. There is a cast of thirteen listed in the programme so presumably, they select any six performers from the 13 for each venue, which we’d imagine keeps it fresh for the company.
Act 3: the victim is selected by Jerkins in the audience leading to the murder at the end of the forty-minute first half. In Act 4, after the murderer has been chosen by Jerkins, we see a series of flashbacks between the victim and the remaining four suspects that set up the motive for murder before Act 5. Willie Solvit solves it in Poirot-style gathering around the chaise lounge. Along the way, what looked like regular jokes were inserted around a running gag about a self-published book that one suspect had written and a Scottish dance.
Occasionally, a line related to the audience choice would work as a reference to the rubber chicken (“I have never been struck about the face with a cock before”) and some good physical business with the size of the imagined jousting horses. In other improv shows we have seen, the narrator interjects more to add more apparent jeopardy to the other performers suggesting bits of business but in this case, Solvit stuck mainly to recapping and talking to Jerkins. Indeed, the shows seemed more driven by the timing of blackouts than their interventions. Two personal microphone failures also impacted the clarity of what characters were saying.
While one has to admire the cast’s efforts to make a story up on an improvised theme, this did feel like an idea lengthened beyond its natural running time and was not as impressive as Showstoppers - The Improvised Musical that has been developed in a similar way. The set remained static where it could have been repurposed for the plot perhaps with a hastily pushed on door or window, or a wider range of repurposed props could have been used but instead, they left much to the imagination of the audience.
Perhaps they had an off night with weak audience suggestions, but while we gave four stars to the Fringe version, on this occasion, we felt the format was overextended beyond its scope and sadly, it fell short of our expectations for an original night out.
** Two stars
Reviewed by: Nick Wayne
Murder, She Didn’t Write currently has tour dates until May 2026, with tickets available here.