The Champion Newspaper has run a review of Murdered To Death.
You can read the full review here (www.champnews.com)
However below I will copy excepts from it, mainly the bits than correspond to me (after all this is my site) and maybe make some comments myself.
“The play is just one of a popular trilogy featuring the imbecilic Inspector Pratt and director Cliff Gillies took centre stage as the manic policeman, a comical interpretation which owed much to Tony Hancock. He did it so well that it was a pity some of the dialogue he was forced to speak was cringeworthy in the extreme.”
“The actors all acquitted themselves well and the audience laughed constantly throughout the evening, even breaking into applause at some of the lines, making the night a great success.”
So far so good really… being compared to Tony Hancock… wow!… And the audience laughed constantly too. Great!
However the final paragraphs made me think…
“For myself, I have trouble with farces. There are no characters, just caricatures. Plots are meaningless so who cares what happens anyway? The audience around me may be convulsed with mirth, and the cast onstage look like they are having great fun, but I sit there thinking how ridiculous the whole thing is.
I would much rather see this talented company perform a serious play rather than infantile dross like this…”
Infantile dross? Really? Farces may be ridiculous, it’s in their very nature… and whilst some may well be dross (as I producer I have read many that are) I simply do not believe that can be said about Peter Gordon’s script. The script (as the review states) has had over 500 productions… were it not a well written, well paced, farcical comedy I cannot imagine it would get more than one!
Anyway to dismiss something as infantile dross in this way is ridiculous. You cannot dismiss something for being silly when that is it’s expressed purpose! Would you dismiss speed racing for being too fast? The same phrase could, by extension, be applied to the works of Monty Python or the ‘Carry On’ series of films… both are chock full of silliness and cheesy puns, however that doesn’t mean they are any less relevant or any less enjoyable… whether I’m a fan of the genre or not I can see that.
However this is an excellent point to debate… let me know your thoughts:
Did you see the production? What did you think of it?
Do you like this type of comedy? Is the reviewer right?
When you go to the theatre do you want to be challenged, have your thoughts provoked, be entertained or just made to laugh?
Sometimes your in the mood for ‘War and Peace’ sometimes you just wanna sit in front of the television and watch Big Brother… Should theatre and plays always have to “about” something… or can they simply be there to entertain?
Interesting isn’t it.
For my point of view it should be a bit of both. When we set up TFTC, Helen and I decided that we would look to do both ‘deep’ character driven or message plays like Les Mis or Countdown or Wuthering Heights mixed in with more ‘fun’ plays like Stags And Hens or Girl’s Night Out or Comfort & Joy.
