"Cluedo 2 The Next Chapter"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

I didn't see the first chapter of this stage play but obviously know the board game from my youth.

The story sees 1960s rock star Rick Black assemble a group of people in his massive country manor house to listen to his new album which is going to resuscitate his career.  It may not be his career though that needs resuscitating!!

As the bodies pile up, The Honourable Mrs Emerald Peacock, Colonel Eugene Mustard, ‘Professor’ Alex Plum, Miss Annabel Scarlett, ‘The Reverend’ Hal Green and the housekeeper Mrs White move from room to room trying to escape the murderer and survive the night, while we try to work out whodunnit… with what… and where!

Jason Durr, who is best remembered from ITV's "Heartbeat" after taking over from NIck Berry, and more recently "Casualty", is Colonel Mustard. I have only seen the TV side of Jason, but here on stage he presents an over the top American with an over the top American accent, complete with an over the top moustache. Everything about this character, and in fact the whole show is over the top, wonderfully over the top.

Ellie Leach, Faye Windass from "Coronation Street" and the recent champion of "Strictly Come Dancing", is Miss Scarlett. Ellie makes her stage acting debut in this role and shows a real flair for comedy and looks to have taken to stage acting really well. I've seen only a few TV actors try the stage and  forget that they have to be a bit larger in character to get the character over on stage, while on TV it has to be reined in. Miss Scarlett is an interior designer, drafted in by Rick to renovate the old place.

Edward Howells is Professor Plum, well, he's not really a professor, or maybe he is a Professor of Music as he is Rick Black's employee. Has he more invested in the music business than first meets the eye?

Hannah Boyce is Mrs Peacock, who is hiding a wee secret from everyone. Mrs P is the latest wife of Rick Black, but has the secret she is keeping, something to connect her to her late husband's demise?

Dawn Buckland is the down-to-earth Cook, Mrs White, who completely steals every scene. There's one particular scene that is straight from panto, regarding food and possible double entendre. I've seen this scene done several times in panto and still find it extremely funny in this show. Mrs W cooks up some fine comedy but is what she is cooking up a pan of red herrings?

Jack Bennett is the butler, Wadsworth; well he's not really a butler, he's an actor playing a butler in a commercial for Mother's Ruin gin, or is that just a cover? There's an old showbiz adage in murder mysteries that cites that the butler did it, but what if the butler was only an actor? He couldn't be the culprit surely? Not if he isn't really a butler?

Tiwai Muza is PC Silver. Now, this is just a minor role but he makes a real impact on the scene that he is in.

Gabriel Paul is Reverend Green, and of course a lot is made out of the names Al Green and Hal Green with some of Al Green's big hits quoted, much to the annoyance of Reverand Hal Green. There's some un Reverand like behaviour from Rev Hal Green, which casts aspersions on how religious this man of the collar is. Isn't the job of the man of the cloth to dispatch bodies to their maker? Well. only after they have passed, surely?

Liam Horrigan is Rick Black, the rocker from the 1960's who looks an enormous amount like Slash from Guns 'n' Roses with all that black curly hair - didn't Guns 'n' Roses sing "Live And Let Die"? Just saying. Even though Rick is still on stage in his deceased state, Liam plays a couple of other roles throughout, so who says that you can't be killed more than once? This comedy proves that wrong!

There are a few others  - Kara Alberts-Turner, Audrey Anderson and Henry Lawes - who are billed as Understudies, but watch for these on stage as well at times.  And then there is the giant Bear!!

Directed by Mark Bell, this job must be a labour of love for Mark. It's wonderfully silly, brilliantly childish in parts, and there's a scene which would not have looked out of place in one of those Scooby doo scenes where they are all chasing each others in and out corridors and through doors.

The scene changes are as entertaining as the scenes themselves, and all done to music. 

The set design is brilliant, consisting a giant portrayal of the Cluedo gameboard with a cartoony manor house superimposed on it, depicting rooms with lights highlighting which rooms the action is taking part in. Designed by David Farley, who is also responsible for the costume designs. 

Lighting is by Jason Taylor and sound by Jon Fiber. None of the actors are mic'd up and I heard every word, showing the actors projection skills, which of course meant that there were no chances of missed mic cues.

This is a beautifully written piece of theatre by Laurence marks and Maurice Gran, with a returning section of American/British word comparisons, which I've seen used in panto before, working to the same comic effect. There's also out and out mentions of panto and derogatory local area comparisons i.e. Mansfield. Maybe they change the locality on every performance, who knows? There's also that age old "who/whom" debate going on. All we needed was a scene where the cast paper the walls and you'd have the ultimate murder/mystery panto. 

You can't beat a bit of silliness in theatre and this piece of theatre has so much churlish, childlike chortlery to please whoever.... or is that whomever? Whatever, it's criminally good fun.

"Cluedo 2" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 25 May, and being a massive whodunnit fan, knew this would be right up my street.