Not just a whodunnit...
Last updated 11:37, Thursday, 05 June 2008
THE mistress of the house has died – but before she can be buried a police inspector arrives and stops the funeral.
He believes she has been poisoned. And suspicion falls on three people: her husband, her friend and her housekeeper.
This is the opening of the new murder mystery being staged at Carlisle’s West Walls Theatre next week. The Late Edwina Black is the latest production by theatre group the Green Room Club.
It explores how relationships can be ruined by suspicious minds. And director Pat Conlan says it will keep audience members guessing until the very end.
The play is a Victorian thriller, set in 1895, and written by William Dinner and William Morum.
As it progresses we learn more about the three characters – and our suspicions switch between them.
It transpires that the housekeeper was devoted to her mistress, but that her husband and her friend were having an affair. It also turns out that they resented the dead woman because of her controlling temperament. She constantly reminded her husband, a poor schoolteacher, that he owed his comfortable lifestyle to her. And she repeatedly humiliated the friend by putting her down in front of other people. But it is not just a straightforward whodunnit, Mr Conlan says.
“The characters begin to suspect that the dead woman is haunting them, so there’s an element of the supernatural as well. The housekeeper takes a dislike to the police inspector, and there’s some humour in their exchanges.”
The Late Edwina Black has a cast of just four characters. The police inspector is played by John Metcalfe. Joan Joyce plays the devoted housekeeper, David Cliffe plays Edwina Black’s husband and Jenny Weaver plays her friend.
Mr Conlan said that as suspicions change, all of the four characters change and experience different emotions. “It is an actors’ play as much as anything else,” he said. “It’s one that everyone has enjoyed doing.”
However it was not the Green Room Club’s original plan for this season’s production. They had originally planned to stage Jack Popplewell’s comedy thriller Busybody , but had had to drop the idea after being unable to cast it.
The central character is a middle-aged woman and Mr Conlan said that none of those in the club who could play the role were available, and so they had had to select another work instead.
The Late Edwina Black opens on Monday and runs until Saturday. Performances are at 7.30pm each night. Tickets cost £7 for adults, concessions £6, and are available from Carlisle Tourist Information or by calling 01228 625600.
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