We’re all familiar with the elements of the classic ‘whodunit’
– a murder victim; several possible suspects each with their own motives for
committing the crime, and at the centre, a detective who successfully
eradicates all the red herrings and announces to the company in the denouement
just who ‘did it’ and why. Add in some strange offstage noises and a thunder
storm and – well, you get the idea.
Ayckbourn has taken this formula and shaken it up – quite a
lot. For the whole of Act 1 there are at least two possible victims, and the
murder itself does not happen until just before the interval. By then we are
familiar with the characters and the setting, and the audience are then asked
to choose their murderer, thus, it could be said, doing the detective’s work
for him.
And the detective, would-be private investigator Norris
Honeywell, portrayed with verve by Nick
Turvey, certainly needs some help – Poirot he ain’t! Even with the ‘help’ of
the audience, his efforts to identify the culprit in Act 2 are.. well,
interesting.
Norris is not the only failure in the house – far from it.
He is living there on sufferance, only because of his partner Jocelyn, played
by Nick’s real life wife Chris Turvey. Jocelyn is a failed writer who explains
that her mother had artistic aspirations for all her three children, which has
resulted in each of them trying – and failing – in different artistic disciplines.
This has not stopped her having similar aspirations for her own daughter Amy (a
beautifully sullen and angry Ellen Lamplough), who has responded by evading her
dance and drama classes in favour of spending her time...eating.
The house is owned by Jocelyn’s elder brother Mortimer.
Michael Arnell, in the role of Mortimer, owns not only the house but the stage,
every time he walks on: he dominates his family, as well he might, since the
estate has been left to him to bequeath ‘as he thinks fit’, and he announces
therefore that on his death the whole family will be disinherited in favour of
an ex-pupil of his who he hasn’t seen for twenty years. Cue classic whodunit motivational
set up.
The final member of the household is Mortimer and Jocelyn’s
younger brother Brinton, whose particular failure is painting – and growing up.
John Abraham’s Brinton is a comic delight, from his tantrum over his studio’s
leaking roof to his childish infatuation with Wendy, the ex-pupil heiress who
he remembers watching during her lessons and who has been the sole subject of
his art ever since, and his confused reactions to the present day Wendy.
For Wendy is no longer the nubile young girl Brinton
remembers – she is now a middle aged dowdy housewife with three children and a
pet shop, whose life’s ambition is to breed King Charles spaniels. Maria Wilkinson,
as Wendy, almost steals the show with her perfect portrayal of sheer down at
heel ordinariness against the other eccentric characters, and a highlight of
the play is her nervously singing nursery rhymes while Norris investigates
apparent noises in the house.
A mention needs to be made here of the superb set which
captures the once wealthy and now fading fortunes of the Chalke family, the
costumes which help us identify the characters, from Mortimer’s cravat and
Jocelyn’s arty skirts to Amy’s tracksuit. The sound and lighting, often
forgotten, are also timed perfectly and add hugely to the atmosphere, as does
the incidental music which was specifically composed
for the Dick & Lottie Theatre Company production of the show in 2017.
By the end of the play Norris thinks he knows the culprit – but
whether he agrees with the audience, who are in charge of the choice of one of
three possible endings – and indeed, who the murderer is (and the victim!) are
all things you will have to see the play to find out – so come along for an
entertaining evening!
It Could Be Any One Of Us is at the Apollo Theatre from
Tuesday 4th to Saturday 8th September; tickets available
at http://www.apollo-theatre.org.uk/it-could-be-any-one-of-us/
or on the door.
The cast of It Could Be Any One Of Us: left to right: John Abraham, Maria Wilkinson, Nick Turvey, Chris Turvey, Michael Arnell and Ellen Lamplough
