Cluedo 2 Waterside

Theatre Aylesbury   

Reviewed by Judith Watsham

*** stars  “ A colourful delight “

This comedy play most definitely falls into the category of family-friendly entertainment – as last night’s audience proved.  All ages from children to pensioners thoroughly enjoyed the evening.  A big plus was that I thought that no one needed to have played the game to find the entire evening a delightful comedic romp from start to finish – one youngster, unfamiliar with the concept, was heard asking for the game for Christmas as he thought it would be fun to play.

Seven familiar actors, Black, Scarlet, White, Green, Mustard, Peacock, and Plum, some initially wielding assorted weapons, moved through the rooms – all as in the original English version of the game I was pleased to note - and took on their roles, familiar to all those who have played the boardgame which first appeared over seventy years ago.

This colourful cast of suspects and victims was augmented by additional characters – a couple of policemen, Brown, and Silver, as well as a ‘Gray’ film director plus a highly suspicious butler, not to mention a stuffed bear!

The set worked well – a gigantic Cluedo board formed the backdrop, with a variety of props and furniture, all elements of which were moved slickly on and off by the cast, represented each room as the characters moved between them, some holding gilt-framed paintings to indicate their transit through various corridors and passages.  A spotlight on a room on the vertically hung games board emphasised which room was the venue for each scene as most of the characters were murdered, and thus, apparently eliminated.

One small problem for some of the audience, as I overhead when I eavesdropped on a conversation as we all exited, was that some dialogue was muted when the actor concerned was speaking ‘upstage’.

This show runs at Aylesbury until Saturday 26 October and then tours until the 30 November.