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On a glorious, balmy summer evening, Twyford Drama’s The Mr. Misty Mystery, became demystified thanks to the skills of the play’s director Jocelyn Robinson.
In stark contrast to the adjacent sun-bathed greenery of Twyford’s King George V’s Recreation Ground, the stage of Loddon Hall’s auditorium unveiled a chilling ‘underworld’ of devious scheming and manipulation.
We are not talking about becoming submerged within dark, dingy underground tunnels here, but instead a very normal, very current cheap young person’s flat.
The small cast of six ably depicted the tale of two desperate young women’s struggle with ailing finances and a tyrannical landlord in the play written by Martin Clare.
Friendships were challenged and deep hostilities became uncovered when fate fortuitously gifted the protagonists with the perfect opportunity to purloin the precious ‘Mister Misty’ painting … brazenly in broad daylight … from a local exhibition.
It was conniving, confident Abbey (played convincingly by new member Kirsty Miall) who conjured up the scheme to create a team of four willing ladies whose totally conflicting personalities could absurdly support her in realising her underhanded plans.
She and her flatmate, the very doubtful Jess (played authentically by Emma Cianchi), were at desperation point to change their fortune and at the same time to seek retribution on their oppressive landlord, the highly unpleasant, yet unseen, Mr Bellingham.
As the action unfolded, Abbey’s cold calculations and devious command of others were countered by moments of pure comedy as she enrolled her ‘scheme team’ – an eclectic bunch of colourful female personae whose individual characters were heightened by the clever artistry of Twyford Drama’s costume designer Dale Resnick.
On to the stage they paraded with their contrasting fur coats, ‘snotty’ tissues, Joe 90 glasses, flipcharts, wine bottles and very mixed opinions and emotions.
An anthropologist’s Heaven.
There was dubious, dressed-down Jess; gushing, larger-than-life Suzy (played charmingly by Kathleen Shaw); and unwitting, naïve ‘Little Eva’ (played comically by Caroline Rose-Newport).
In counterpart to this brazen brigade of bangled burglars, there was the comedic cop duo: the highly self-righteous Detective Inspector Tomlinson (played masterfully by Marc Reid) and his bungling buffoon of an assistant, Constable Simmons (played hilariously by Bill Evans) whose unexpected confrontation with Little Eva in the interview room left the entire audience shedding tears of laughter.
Abbey’s carefully planned heist seemed foolproof with these two incompetents at the helm of the investigation, but when their female superior Chief Inspector Hogarth (played in true detective fashion by Sally Gillard) became involved, there were surprising results and an intriguing storyline unfurled, which left the audience guessing until the very end.
Twyford Drama, as usual, designed their own set for this production under the expert leadership of Gavin Robinson.
The stage convincingly conducted the audience into the living room of a cheap, sparsely decorated, run-down flat.
David Goddard’s highly creative lighting coupled with Gavin Robinson’s injection of everyday sounds, topped by the seamless management of props and set dressing (overseen by Props Manager, Vivienne Williamson, and Stage Manager, Parvinder Kandohla) highlighted the very diverse talents of Twyford Drama members.
The large audience became instantly immersed in the convincing conflict between landlord and tenants.
The domestic setting later cleverly metamorphosised into a small-town police station, the interview room and waiting room staged adjacent to each other, each side of the stage equipped with its own lighting.
The action authentically and fluidly switched from one room to the other with the use of light and darkness and contrasting activity and inactivity to direct the audience’s focus.
In the wink of an eye, the police station rooms morphed back into the girls’ cheap flat for the final denouement.
The overall success of The Mr. Misty Mystery was down to many, but it was the patience, expertise, drive and real passion of its experienced director Jocelyn Robinson, which paved the way.
Well done Jocelyn and all her crew.
Joanne Davis
