Writer: Torben Betts
Director: Philip Franks
Torben Betts’ Murder at Midnight, the latest production in the 20 years of Original Theatre, is billed as a comedy thriller: it’s fair to say that it delivers more on the comedy side, a point made at the very beginning when we join police at Jonny the Cyclops’ house in the early hours of New Year’s Day to learn that they are investigating multiple murders committed with a variety of weapons, some more likely than others. As they depart the scene, we go back in time to discover exactly what happened.
Jonny (Jason Durr) is a career gangster living a life of luxury, largely funded by drug dealing. He’s back early from a trip and intends to surprise his longstanding girlfriend Lisa with a proposal of marriage. He has hanger-on Trainwreck (Peter Moreton) in tow.
Living with Jonny is his mum, Shirley (Susie Blake), who, according to the programme, ‘may, or may not have dementia’. She has a carer, Cristina (Iryna Poplavska), of dubious immigration status.
Also living in Jonny’s home is Lisa (Katie McGlynn), his younger girlfriend and ball of energy. Not expecting Jonny home for several more days, she’s taken the opportunity to attend a party and has been escorted back by Paul (Max Bowden), a self-confessed poor police officer trying to work undercover to gather intelligence on Jonny, especially about the disappearance of his first wife, Alex, some five years earlier.
Oh! And then there’s Mr Fish (Callum Balmforth), an acquaintance of Cristina’s who arrives desperate to clear his debts with some seriously bad people.
The first third of the play is pretty much fast-moving classic farce, with characters rushing around the house with spot-on timing, almost-but-not-quite bumping into each other as we begin to learn some more about their backstories. The success of this is massively helped by Colin Falconer’s multi-level set, enabling the audience to watch events in many rooms – though occasionally this can become confusing if two scenes play out in two rooms independently, when there’s always the suspicion that maybe you missed something of consequence in one area while focused on the other.
There are two distinct strands to the plot: what happened to Alex all those years ago, and how did most of this group end up dead after midnight? However, there is so much action and humour that there is little space left for mystery, so many whodunnit fans will have spotted the answer to at least one of these questions pretty early on.
The comedy side works really very well. Durr is superb as Jonny, the gangster with a passion for the music of Robbie Williams, delivering genuinely funny lines and wordplay while also being menacing and unpredictable. Blake flexes her comedic muscles, clearly revelling in her character and providing a memorable performance. Moreton’s Trainwreck has surprising hidden depths as the cocaine-addicted but intellectually challenged bear of a sidekick. Bowden’s policeman finds himself out of his depth as he gets entangled with Lisa, played by McGlynn nicely for comedic effect.
The other characters, however, are more two-dimensional, although Balmforth is more memorable as the little fish in a big pond.
Because of the lean towards the comic elements, however, what is missing is any real tension: it’s much more in the farce tradition: take it on its own terms and you’ll enjoy a light-hearted romp.
Runs until 20 September 2025 and on tour
The Reviews Hub Star Rating