Cluedo started life as a board game in 1943 with a colourful cast of characters who may have committed murder in a large country house.
Jonathan Lynn turned this into a film screenplay for Clue – the American name for the game – in 1985. This is what Questors, written by Sandy Ruskin and based on that film, have brought to their summer production in the park.
Six people are invited to the house of one ‘Mr Body’, who has news to their advantage. Each has a guilty secret or indiscretion. The butler, the cook, and the maid are the staff.
It’s one night in a stormy house and the game is afoot. Director and set designer Rachel Moorhead has fashioned a world that allows for quick and easy movement between ‘rooms’, while props designer Katie Wrench has everything on cards, suggesting the original game.
As the bodies pile up the six guests/suspects become ever more insecure. Their secrets are revealed, the weapons are distributed, the lights go out. It’s all very upbeat and silly.
Miss Scarlett (Tilly Benson), Mrs Peacock (Alison Griffin) and Mrs White (Samantha Moran) have very different personality styles which are echoed in the actors’ performances. With a shrug, a twitter, or simply sang-froid, they are nobody’s fool.
Professor Plum (Brodie Bass), Colonel Mustard (Robin Ingram) and Reverend Green (Jamie Gould) are more broadly comic and certainly far from politically correct. Sleazy probably fits all three who display fine comic flair.
Wadsworth (Daniel Thompson) has the most showy role as the play progresses, including an amusing recap towards the end. Your eyes keep being drawn to him even in the background of scenes.
The ensemble players are excellent, too, picking up the smaller parts, setting up ‘blackouts’ and handing out props. Julice Liecier (Yvette) and Eleanor Wilson (Cook/Telegram) are fun, while Daniel Carey’s chatty motorist and James Rushbrooke’s traditional bobby add colour.
This is the second time Questors have ventured outdoors into Walpole Park. The team have done themselves proud in arranging this show and getting it set up and taken down each day.
Chloe Park’s sound design and Helen Cooper’s compositions don’t overwhelm the action, and Sarah Andrews’s costumes are appropriately vibrant and coded.
I’m not really a fan of the film and its Americanisms, much preferring the ‘whodunnit’ style of the TV series in the early 90s. However, this Cluedo is entertaining fare, amusing, pointed, and just a little bit bonkers.
I’m giving this 3.5 stars.
Cluedo by Questors Theatre is in Walpole Park from 19-27 Jun. Tickets here.
Photo credit: Carla Marker