A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED

Lighthouse, Poole

AGATHA Christie’s murder mysteries are still doing the rounds more than 60 years after they were published and this dramatised version by Leslie Darbon of one of her novels is currently on a national tour by Middle Ground Theatre Company.

Miss Marple is on the warpath again in this production, getting to grips with the deadly crimes that abound among the middle-classes in our closeted village communities.

With a well known cast headed by Judy Cornwell, the traditional plot of dastardly doings in the drawing room and bodies on the carpet heralds a plot that turns out to be as convoluted as a piece of Miss Marple’s knitting.

When the personal column of the local village paper announces that a murder is to take place at 6.30pm at the home of Letitia, played by Diane Fletcher, the locals gather to enjoy what they assume is a prank but pretty soon things get serious and secrets are revealed.

Identities are swopped, old enemies reappear and the audience are kept on their toes until the final curtain when the crime is finally solved by the plodding police inspector with the invaluable assistance, of course, of the inscrutable lady knitter.

A handsome set, somewhat dowdy costumes – where were the frothy skirts of the 1950s? – and a talented cast who clearly enjoy the antics of the see-through plot, all give an enjoyable evening of typically English entertainment where murder is fun and everybody has something to hide, lovely.

The production continues for the rest of the week.

MARION COX