Kingston Bagpuize Drama Group: Thoroughly Murdered Millie

The play is set in the 1920’s in the well-to-do home of the Harper-Smythes. We can straightaway see trouble brewing when author Millie Harper-Smythe, played by the very capable Sarah Curran, announced she was going to sell the ancestral home she now owned as her husband had died. She was off to the States to live with her new soon-to-be-husband, who was also her publisher, and this meant her family was on the streets and having to get jobs. Shock horror all round.

No one then was best pleased about this revelation. Jimmy Harper-Smythe used to be Millie’s beau, but he was thrown over for his father as he had the cash. Rob Bateman was Jimmy and can always be relied on to put in a fine performance and tonight was no exception. He was aghast at the thought of having to get a job. Same for his sister Anna. Anna was deftly played by, I believe, newcomer Rebecca Bellis who was a pure delight looking and sounding like the rather spoilt upper crust flapper of the time. She played the part with great style and enthusiasm. If this was indeed her first time on stage KBDG have a find indeed.

Now Virginia Harper-Smythe, the sister of the defunct family head, is also a tad upset about the new arrangements although she is self sufficient with money. Her companion is the mysterious Ruth Boyd, portrayed here by reliable KBDG stalwart Sally Lacey. William Jones, the butler, secretly writes the books Millie passes off as hers. He also does everything around the house as all the other servants have been directed towards the Job Centre.

So, it’s obvious who is going to get the chop and sure enough in short order a scream backstage indicates someone has bitten the dust. We didn’t need telling who it was; you’ve got it, Millie the rotter, her body discovered by Anna. But who shot her?

KBDG are becoming adept at putting on Murder Mystery Nights. The set tonight was excellent. Bearing in mind it’s a one-performance show it painted the period well. There was a detective quiz on every table, a raffle of course and the whole evening was well stitched together by the garrulous Neil Browning. Directed by Mike Lacey & Emily Eastham, Thoroughly Murdered Millie was a fairly typical whodunit with the script littered with clues suggesting that any of the cast could have been the culprit. Tales of blackmail, and hidden letters abounded.

The audience was invited to question the show’s characters and then complete the provided form with the murderer’s name and the motive. Only one team got the correct miscreant, I was completely wrong and never considered the person responsible thinking she was far too nice to commit such a foul deed. A lesson here for us all methinks.

There is an awful lot of hard work in putting on a play and in many ways it’s a shame a Murder Mystery can only run for one performance. On the negative side there were some serious prompts during the show, but that didn’t take away the entertainment and fun of the evening, well done KBDG.

Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here