The Therry Dramatic Society’s production of Alan Ayckbourn’s It Could be Any One of Us is a good evening’s entertainment.

 

Director Kerrin White also designed the deceptively simple set.  The sitting room in which all of the action takes place lures the audience into a false sense of comfort, until you notice the askew chandelier and the shabby walls.  Sound and lighting were very realistic especially the thunderstorm and the general chaos in Act 2.

 

Six actors deliver this comedy/murder mystery/thriller with gusto. The family of eccentric adult siblings Mortimer (Roman Turkiewicz), Jocelyn (Gigi Jeffers) and Brinton (Ben Todd) and 16 year old Amy (Bonnie McAllister) are vividly and hilariously portrayed.  Gigi Jeffers does a sterling job as Jocelyn trying unsuccessfully to hold everything together.  So too does Brad Martin as Jocelyn’s partner Norris, a hapless detective revelling in the opportunity to solve an actual crime. Miriam Keane is wonderful as Wendy, a former music student, whose impending, and then actual, arrival brings many pent up emotions to a head. Each character has at least one very funny comic cameo during the play and all are skilfully performed. 

 

All of the cast members are to be commended on fine performances and the ability to keep the plot moving through a clever but long script. There were some slight word flutters in the final moments probably due to exhaustion!  Gigi Jeffers and Brad Martin are excellent in maintaining the pace and leading the audience through the intricacies of the family’s history and the unfolding murder mystery and mayhem.