As Storm Darragh raged outside on Friday night, the cosy little Bilton Theatre, in Bilton, near Hull, began to fill up with theatregoers eager to find out who’d “dunnit” in Bilton Amateur Dramatic Society’s production of A Corpse For Christmas.
Billed as a “thriller with a touch of comedy”, all the action takes place in the front room of Philip and Alison Winter, and their daughter Naomi.
There’s nothing posh about the Winter’s home – a comfy, but worn, beige three-piece suite, a fireplace, coffee table and some pictures on the wall. A Christmas tree stands in the corner waiting to be decorated by Alison, who usually doesn’t like anyone else interfering with what she considers her territory.
Other decorations hang over the back of the sofa, waiting for Naomi to drape them over the fireplace.
Off the front room, and unseen by us, is a conservatory through which there are comings and goings during the night.
It’s Christmas Eve and Philip (Nick Northcott-Orr), Alison (Helen Davison) and Naomi (Rachel Lawson), have to put up with the irking presence of Philip’s aunt, Cilla (Ailsa Oliver), who gets on everyone’s nerves, bless her. But I found her quite amusing.
Also on the scene are Naomi’s boyfriend, restaurant worker Sam Barnard (Patrick Wilkinson), neighbour Ian Tobin (Andrew Blake) and Sandra Derby (Mandy Grimston) who is the cook of the house.
With such a motley bunch, tempers fray from the start – and it’s mainly Cilla who incurs people’s wrath. She especially gets on Naomi’s nerves and when the younger woman finds out some juicy gossip about the old lady, she can’t wait to share it with anyone who will listen.
Cook, Sandra, also has some shocking news to share about Naomi’s boyfriend, Sam, while Cilla has a word in her nephew Philip’s lughole, revealing how she found his wife, Alison, in a “cuddle” with neighbour Ian.
Before long they are all suspicious of each other and the tension reaches boiling point. This is a murder mystery so we knew some poor soul on stage that night was gonna get it in the neck.
As it happens, it was a bit higher than the neck and it was fatal. But who copped it? And who did the copping? More importantly, who sabotaged the cheese straws?
This small but very talented bunch did a fantastic job in bringing write Angela Lanyon’s story to life (or death).
We quickly got to know each character – Philip, the mild-mannered husband; Alison the energetic organiser; Naomi, rebellious and disrespectful at times; Ian, elderly and bewildered; Sandra, efficient and gossipy; Sam, protective yet shady; and finally, Cilla, interfering busybody.
There is comedy aplenty, with many of the best lines coming from Naomi’s petulant mouth. Sandra and Cilla also do their bit in making us in the audience laugh out loud at times.
As the night wore on and the plot thickened, I kept changing my mind as to who a) was going to be murdered and b) by whose murderous hand.
By the end of the night I suspected everyone on stage.
This small cast played their roles so perfectly, making it easy for us in the audience to believe in events on that fateful Christmas Eve.
All voices, with exceptions at times, were loud and carried well. These are everyday people at Christmas, so the costumes reflected that – Christmas jumpers, muted sequinned outfits and so on. And Christmas carols, beautifully sung by the Sands Choir, of Hull, added a musical touch.
At the show’s end, happy audience members, after giving a rousing ovation, headed out into the storm with smiles on their faces.
Reviewer: Jackie Foottit
Reviewed: 6th December 2024
North West End UK Rating: