A Murder Is Announced" by Agatha Christie
Tuesday 31st March 2026
"A Murder Is Announced" by Agatha Christie"
Your Chance Productions.
Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 Stars)
An Agatha Christie classic, the story of a quiet village which is shook by a peculiar notice in the newspaper ‘A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, at Little Paddocks at 6.30pm.’
The room is filled with mystery as we anxiously wait to hear the story. Jazz music playing pre show to boost the mood. As we hit the interval we are still none the wiser as to who dunnit!! There are many twists and turns and fingers pointed as to who it could be but no clear answer. We’ll just have to wait and see!
On a whole, the cast worked well together to create the family atmosphere but it is also obvious that each person has truly thought about the background of their characters. A couple of the cast seemed to stumble over their words in a few places which did lose the pace a little.
Philippa Buchanan has the calming but quirky personality you’d expect from Miss Jane Marple. Her costume was as you would imagine a stereotypical ‘granny’ which suited the character so well. Although the hat did cover her face with shadow.
Samantha Badman played the rollercoaster of emotions of Leticia Blacklock so well, or did she?! I believed everything she said, from the shock of her kiss with death to the complete juxtaposition of her deceiving nature towards the inspector.
Gill Cook really captured the muddled old lady that is ‘Bunny’. There’s a sense of her really not knowing what’s going on but it’s clear that she is in complete control.
Paige Kimberley and James Taylor threw in the big news of being lovers instead of siblings so subtly yet so in your face (as soon as it’s pointed out), it worked so well for keeping the story exciting.
Oli Watts as Edmund Swettenham was a perfect casting. He was very believable as being a ‘lazy’ writer.
Emily Burgess as Philippa Haymes was equally as well picked, she’s sweet and innocent with such a sass when she needs it.
Chantelle Ruston nailed the accent for her character, Mitzi, along with the squeaky but snappy persona.
Alison Martin-Jones plays Clara Swettenham, the sweet mum to Edmund who is in complete disarray with all the goings on in the house. A great representation.
Martin Weston as Inspector Craddock, had the charm and smart comments this character needs.
Wil Morgan-McLean as Rudi Shertz (who we didn’t really see as it was dark and only for a short moment!), and Sergent Mellors, who we did get a glimpse of, made the perfect companion to the inspector with only a few supporting lines.
Both lighting and sound were by Dave Martin. The lighting is a nice warm wash of light throughout most of the performance except when the police arrive, then it changes to flashing blue and red, a great way to help the audience understand the shock of what’s happened.
There were 3 microphones across the front of the stage which unfortunately did have a constant echo. Some lines were a little quiet and hard to hear and I could tell the mics were being pushed to try and capture them as they started to feed back and create a slight ringing. The sound effects were on time but again, slightly quiet, especially the first 2 gun shots, which I didn’t recognise until they mentioned it later on.
The set consists of flats with 2 doors, a table set and sofa which nicely creates a house. The style of the furniture is very within the time period and works well with the costumes. It seemed there was an issue with one of the doors not staying shut which did spoil a few of the ‘surprise’ moments where certain characters entered the scene.
Throughout the show I blamed every single character for the murder and was so shocked by the outcome! This was mainly down to the fabulous directing by Jessica Morgan-McLean mixed with the iconic writing by Agatha Christie. From the subtle glances between secret lovers to the full blown murder scene, all performed so effortlessly. It’s clear that each move has been so thought out.
I’m giving this show 4 stars as I thoroughly enjoyed what Your Chance Productions created but can’t give it the full 5 due to the few issues mentioned.
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