Review: Strictly Murder – Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

Published on: 19 Sep, 2017
Updated on: 19 Sep, 2017

Brian Capron as Ross, the well-dressed stranger who may not be what he seems.

By Alice Fowler

In their cosy cottage, deep in the Provence countryside, English couple Peter and Suzy seem protected from the harsh world beyond their door. Peter Meredith (Gary Turner) is a beret-wearing would-be artist, who likes painting poppy fields. Suzy Hinchcliffe (Lara Lemon), his lissome, dark-haired partner, works at the nearby hotel.

All there is to worry about, it seems as the play begins, is whether the hotel’s pastry chef may be winning Suzy’s heart with croissants.

This is ‘Strictly Murder’ however – on show at the Yvonne Arnaud theatre until Saturday – and of course we are in thriller country.

Bad omens soon abound. It is 1939, for one thing, and Neville Chamberlain is on the radio, intoning his hopes for peace. Peter has scars on his back, which Suzy believes are from an accident – but were they really made by barbed wire?

Why is he so reluctant to marry Suzy (who seems a lot younger, more attractive and, indeed, pleasanter than he is)?

Lara Lemon as Suzy turns to self defence.

There are rumours of German agents swarming through France – and who should sneak into the cottage but a rifle-wielding tramp with a German accent…

So the fun begins, with an impressively insistent soundtrack by Edward Patrick White adding to the tension.

Another stranger arrives, expensively dressed, with the fruity delivery that can only come from an English public school. This is Ross (Brian Capron, best known as Richard Hillman in Coronation Street), who quickly unmasks Peter as someone else entirely: an escaped prisoner named Giles Hudson. Hudson, it is revealed, murdered his former wife when she was pregnant with their child. Suzy is soon keen to aid in Peter’s capture.

Lara Lemon (Suzy) and Gary Turner (Peter) face dark forces from all sides.

As the second half begins, some months later, we see that Suzy herself is – cue gasp from the audience – heavily pregnant. What will happen next?

Just when we feel we know where we stand – Peter the baddie, naturally, and Suzy the innocent victim (along with, quite possibly, that poor old tramp) everything changes.

Plot twists come thick and fast, several involving a bottle of Chateau Latour, which the audience may feel they need a glass of by the end. Even that posh English accent is not exactly what it seems.

This is a revival of a play written in 2006 by Brian Clemens, best known for his work as scriptwriter for The Avengers and the man who cast Diana Rigg to replace original star, Honor Blackman.

This new production is directed by his son, Samuel Clemens, who was busy tweaking it to perfection on the first night (September 18, 2017) of its Guildford run. It is a well-acted, rollicking ride, for those who like their drama laced with humour, fine wine – and perhaps a dash of rat poison.