The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society Murder Mystery

By David McGillivray & Walter Zerlin Jr, directed by Geoff Hunt

24th – 27th April 2013

An all women cast performed this spoof “play within a play” murder mystery. The play follows a group of townswomen’s guild ladies performing a murder mystery (including quiz and fashion show) with all the stereotypical am dram bloopers. The team worked on group comedy delivery as this play has no central character. The main aim was to portray the ladies trying to act in their own way and not to simply produce spoof characters.

The production is heavy on props and designed with slips and trips which can easily disorientate the cast. We adjusted the parts to revert to an all female cast and split the Mrs Reese part to develop a second character. It is a great play to perform but much care is needed to push the pace in the right places and to signal the visual gags very clearly. Good facial expressions can make the comedy very subtle. The opening speech and film show can hold the opening pace back and is very difficult for the actor.

The cast had great fun with the fashion show and song routine and the production generated great camaraderie and a wonderful showcase for our female actors. A much enjoyed show by our audience too.