16 – 20 July

The original, much-loved Cluedo boardgame celebrates its 75^th birthday this year. The longevity of this whodunnit phenomenon lies in its simplicity: six characters, nine rooms in the mysterious Tudor Mansion, and six potential murder weapons, with players using the process of elimination to solve the murder of Dr Black. Inspired by the stories of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers, it has become one of the most popular boardgames of all time, spawning film and TV adaptations, online games, merchandise and now not one, but two stage shows.

Common to both stage productions is director Mark Bell, he of The Play That Goes Wrong fame. With a script penned by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, responsible for a string of hit British TV sitcom such as Birds of a Feather and Goodnight Sweetheart, expectations for Cluedo 2 are high, given such a talented creative team.

Yet for the first hour of this evening’s opening night at the Everyman, I wondered whether this was intended to be a Christie-style murder mystery, or a spoof of the murder mystery genre itself. Despite lots of energy from an enthusiastic, hardworking and clearly talented cast, this is a show which initially struggles to work out what it wants to be. All our stock Cluedo characters are present, although names and backstories have been altered to allow a reincarnation for this sequel. It is 1968: Dr Black is now a fading rocker (and murder victim) Rick Black, Mrs Peacock his gold-digging and adulterous wife, Colonel Mustard his scheming agent. Miss Scarlett is now an interior designer, Reverend Green is Hal Green, Black’s former writing partner, and Professor Plum….well, I’m not quite sure who he was supposed to be. All, of course, have a motive for Black’s murder, including housekeeper Mrs White, who cooks for all the guests during their ill-fated stay at Tudor Mansion. The cast of stock characters is completed by an actor called Wadsworth, who fulfils the butler role.

Ultimately, these characters are deliberately overplayed, two-dimensional caricatures, but the script provides no alternative or opportunity to develop them in any meaningful way. What is intended to be a spoof fails to deliver initially: the attempted humour is neither clever nor obvious enough to be a parody, the running jokes are flogged to the point of exhaustion and while the cast huff and puff admirably, the characters’ individual narratives are convoluted and confusing. It all feels very disjointed.

However, things improve considerably in the second half: Bell’s clever direction makes the show much more obviously a self-parodying spoof in the Goes Wrong-style. The humour hits the mark, the slapstick scenes are slicker, the comic timing is sharper, we get some witty local jokes about Gloucester, Tewkesbury and Donald Trump, and the whole show finally reveals its identity, as well as that of the murderer. Dawn Buckland is the standout as Mrs White, but a tighter and more coherent Act Two reflects better on the whole cast.

The technical challenge of bringing nine different rooms to the stage is a tall order, one which designer David Farley successfully overcomes through a variety of portable props and staging. It is simple but effective. Anna Healey’s choreography and movement direction are increasingly impressive and add to the play’s pantomime feel, as do some typically exaggerated sound and lighting effects.

At a time when the cultural capital of the murder mystery genre is high, this is, eventually, an engaging and quite entertaining show. I’m not entirely sure a sequel to Cluedo was even needed, but like the last character remaining on the stage, it somehow gets away with it.

★★★☆☆   Tony Clarke  17 July 2024 

Photo credit:  Alistair Muir