Bath-based theatre company New Old Friends reprise their humourous ‘homage’ to Agatha Christie having enjoyed a good run earlier in the year at the Ustinov.  Previously titled Crimes Under the Sun, the name change was apparently to avoid a clash with the Christie estate who sought to clarify distance between themselves (Evil Under the Sun) and this work.

Set in a hotel on an island somewhere off the English coast, Crimes is very much a play of two halves. The first comprises mostly a somewhat underwhelming scene-setting narration by the novelist/freelance detective Artemis Arinae (Ashley Christmas) – a female version of Poirot, complete with faux Belgian accent, who introduces a string of protagonists – fourteen comically cardboard cut-out characters, played by just three other members of the cast.

Not so much on-stage drama here, more a spoken-word narrative injected with silly goings-on and peppered with hackneyed jokes held little tension in the run-up to the first murder  which failed to ignite the proceedings. An impossibly over-the-top policeman, Inspector Aquafresh (Rowden), when he arrives, spends more time tiresomely expounding on the gender of Arinae than he does on seeking clues. The admirable vocal workout displayed by the impressive Hannah Genesius as the three bobbies Cuthbert, Dibble and Grub, would all have been much more at home in panto. But maybe that’s the New Old Friends way – harmless fun dressed up as murder mystery.

The second half was a welcome lift. Suddenly there was pace and some genuinely funny physical humour (Jon-Paul Rowden brought the house down with his Munsters-like depiction of Major Peavey’s son Lucien, at one point magically producing a tea set out of nowhere). Some ludicrously fast character changing injected a general sense of collective madness on stage, giving the audience something to respond to.

Luca Thompson as the twice-widowed Major Bryce Peavey, Rowden as the louche would-be ‘wild animal’ Michael Redwood and Genesius as the sultry and crystal-voiced Rose Wentworth all brought depth to their characters.  But in a wild finale, where wig and clothing changes demanded the sharpest stage direction, it was simple mayhem that won the day, rather than dialogue or plot.

Connie Watson’s set – a hotel balcony overlooking the sea with a full moon in the sky was an engaging backdrop sympathetically lit by Lloyd Evans. Hats off to director James Farrell for ensuring everyone ended up wearing the right hat or hairpiece.   ★★☆☆☆      Simon Bishop   1^st September 2019

Photo by Pamela Raith