Venture Theatre’s first show for the year is a comic murder mystery by playwright Richard James . The mise en scene is the annual fete of the little English village of Thornton, where the country produce competition is regarded as vital enough to win by murdering the other entrants if the chance arises. And it does. Malcom,(Terry O’Neill) married to Bunny (Vicki Jones) produces his monstrous marrow believing it to be unbeatable only to discover that the local priest Father Mike,(Luke Wagner) has produced a marrow that makes Malcom’s look like an under-ferilised courgette. Malcom is very soon disposed of and the hunt for the murderer occupies the entire plot thereafter. The story line itself is intrinsically funny but in a plot-driven piece such as this the directors, Lucy Marshallsay and Shelley Carman have gone all out to provide laughs ,often at the expense of some basic stage craft. For example, little attention has been given to the diction of the actors. In the role of the Fete organiser, Trish Kristy Mundy rattled her lines off much too quickly for us to always catch them. Similarly Jake Picken as Nigel, delivered his dialogue with not enough projection . Valerie Lane (Miss Parmenter) had the funniest role, yet her projection was not always powerul enough in that little hall. The stage blocking was often awkward and actors were sometimes obscured from the audience. This is not to detract from the characterisations of the cast who by and large played their roles well. David Giles as Roy Martin tended to overplay his role but provided many laughs. The set design by Lucy Marshallsay was suitable and provided plenty of open space, not always well-utilised by the cast. Despite this reviewer’s pronouncements, it is pleasing to note that the opening night audience loved it. And that after all, is what community theatre is all about.
