The
Play Produced
Death by Fatal Murder
By Peter Gordon
Director Maureen Nickson
Discusses this production
by the Charity Players of
Introduction
The Charity Players formed in 1991, when a group of
local thespians led by Charity fundraiser John Nickson formed a partnership
with the Charter Theatre Preston, to produce at least two plays a year in aid
of the local Hospice,
St Catherine’s, caring for the terminally ill, based
at Lostock Hall,
We draw from the huge local drama talent, that we are
so fortunate to have in the
£ 21,000!
Our strength is in farces and comedies, played in a
professional theatre (800 seater) with the added bonus of a professional crew.
These factors enable us to get ‘bums on seats’ and although we are an am/dram
group we like to think that we would give professionals a run for their money. Our
support lies with the people of
Following
the success of our first Peter Gordon play ‘Murdered to Death’ we were
intrigued to find out if he had written any sequels and to our delight
we discovered he had written a follow up - ‘Secondary Cause of
Death’, which we performed in May 2005.
We invited Peter and his delightful wife Janice to the show. I had also directed this play and although
somewhat nervous of the author’s presence, I was confident that we had done
justice to the script and with the inclusion of many visual gags; we had a very
funny show on our hands. Peter was delighted (to our utmost relief) he
had thoroughly enjoyed the performance and later in the bar after a ‘couple of pints’ informed us of the third ‘Pratt’ play which he was just completing. It may have
been the beer talking but he was confident enough for us to showcase the new
play for him. We of course accepted the challenge with open arms as this was a
real ‘feather in our cap’ not only for the Charity Players but more importantly
an opportunity to raise much needed funds for St Catherine’s Hospice.
The Play
‘Death by Fatal Murder’ was a ‘World Premiere’ for the
Charity Players as we were the first group to present it. With the success of
‘Murdered to Death’ and ‘Secondary Cause of Death’ under our belts, we were
more than happy to take on Pratt’s last stand as it were, to complete the
trilogy.
Yes, the infamous Defective Inspector Pratt was once
again at large at ‘Bagshot House’ where mayhem ensues. Aided and abetted by
local amateur sleuth Miss Maple, he meets up with the new owner Nancy Allwright
and his side kick Constable Thomkins who adds fluency to Pratt’s ‘brainpower’.
The upper crust Virginia Farquahah and Italian Enzo
Garibaldi assist with inquiries, but danger soon looms with the unexpected
arrival of
This Agatha Christie spoof has all the ingredients of
a Murder Mystery, a comedy thriller, filled with colourful characters that put
Pratt’s detective work to the test.
CASTING
The Charity Players don’t
have a membership as such, although we do have a core group of players. We are
fortunate to be able to draw from the many local talented and experienced
actors in the area, players are usually invited to join the cast once the
Director is assigned and we rarely audition.
The demanding role of
Inspector Pratt an incompetent, bumbling policeman requires lots of energy and vital
comic timing. Having already played the
Inspector on two previous occasions John Nickson seems to have made the part
his own, so he went for the hat trick, with the trademark raincoat and hat.
We recalled our previous dependable
Constable Thomkins who was more than happy to take on the role once more. For
the Miss Maple character it was essential to have an experienced actor, who
appears gentle and somewhat confused but underneath is quite controlling, this part
has a reasonable amount of dialogue, especially in the denouement. The parts of
Enzo, Blodwyn and Virginia all call on actors who can master accents, whilst
Nancy and the Squadron Leader must be solid and sharp. The characters are all
exaggerated ‘Agatha Christie’ stereotypes; they should be played ‘straight and big
with lots of animation’ in order for Pratt to pull off the inept, clumsy
walking disaster area that he is. Although Pratt has a huge amount of dialogue
and moves seamlessly from joke to joke (both verbal and visual) sending the
audience into fits of laughter, this could not be achieved without ensemble
playing, which enables the play to succeed.
Rehearsals
We are all very busy
people and I like to keep the rehearsal period short, which proves fruitful, as
the actors become more aware of the forthcoming production and are
conscientious and keen to make things work. Once cast, we held the read through
in early May. Peter came along and it was at this stage that he could make some
slight and positive alterations to the script whilst it was still in draft
form. At this point the actors were given a short summary of their characters
and sent away to learn their scripts over the summer. We started rehearsal
proper just six weeks before the show, first blocking and moving the whole play
then gradually working through the scenes; the players now having accomplished a
good working knowledge of their lines, were able to concentrate on the acting
and business. Having a reputation of a somewhat hard taskmaster, my aim was to
get the best out of all and sundry, by encouragement, supporting them to be confident
with their characters and enabling them to reach the next level in their
performance, it was vital that we had books down early.
We are fortunate to be
able to rehearse in the Garden Room at St Catherine’s Hospice and although the
play does not require many props, I feel early props are paramount to enable the
actors to make use of and become familiar with them. The Sunday before the show
was our first full Dress Rehearsal complete with sound and props. We now had a
show on our hands!
Scenery
One of the downsides of
using the Charter Theatre is that we can only do the ‘get in’ on the Monday
before opening night, which cuts things
a bit fine but the upside is that we have use of the theatre crew and their
vast experience. Early meetings were imperative with the stage manager to
discuss the set design and logistics. The Charter is a very busy theatre, so
immediately following the last performance the set is stripped and down within
minutes, ready for ‘get out’.
A simple box set was
required for the guest room in the West Wing of Bagshot House. As in the
previous Pratt plays we used a double door entrance up centre, leading off to
the main entrance. This lends itself to many visual gags, as we see Pratt
walking straight past, by mistake, on numerous occasions, a keystone cop moment
for Constable Thomkins, looking right and left and a dramatic entrance for
Squadron Leader Allwright. Stage left is
a door leading to a room off, in the main house, whilst the ‘fourth wall’ suggests
the presence of a Fireplace, this was achieved by a fire grate (with red light)
and companion set.
The Furniture, paintings
and props used to dress the set came from our Hospice Charity shops.
Lighting
The action moves from a
November evening to the following day, through to
Most of the Scenes ended
in blackout, when we originally tried black, it proved disastrous moving actors
off, and so we tried a blue filter light. In the end we reverted to black and
used curtain at the end of Act 1 Scene 2 and Act 2 Scene 2.
We also had a practical
table lamp on the desk down right. During the séance scene the room was dimly
lit and when the candle was lit we brought up the light to provide additional atmosphere.
The standard lamp flashes on and off to a Morse code pattern and the timing of
this was once again imperative. We were very fortunate to have use of the
professional lighting team who are always eager to assist the Charity Players.
Costumes
As this was set in the
1940’s we had to research the costumes of that period. In particular for
Virginia (Land Army Gal) and the Squadron Leader (RAF Pilot), both these
outfits and Miss Maple’s Country Tweed Suit we hired from a local Dress Hire
Shop. We have of course built up our own wardrobe over the years and I was able
to supply most outfits from either wardrobe or the charity shops. I came across
a fabulous Egyptian outfit that was superb for Blodwyn’s séance scene. The
Constable’s uniform was on loan and we reclaimed the raincoat and trilby that
Pratt wore in the previous plays. As always, costumes immediately lift the
characters, when in full dress.
Music
The play does not require
music but we included music to open and close the acts and at the end of certain
scenes to create a link. I always prefer to choose appropriate house music to
warm up the audience before the show and was lucky to come across ‘Past
Perfect’ a compilation of 30’s and 40’s music. The opening curtain music for
both acts was a piece that I had used before from the very talented Vanessa
May, violin introduction of the ‘Sabre Dance’. This is very atmospheric,
creating mystery and intrigue, setting the audience up for perhaps a thriller?
We closed both Acts with Vivaldi’s vibrant
‘Four Seasons’. For the house music
at the interval we included 1940’s ‘crooning
music’. At the close of Act 2 Scene 1, we used curtain instead of black to allow the scene change - whilst this was
taking place, we played ‘Moonlight Sonata’ subsequently we closed the scene
with a quick curtain, in order to strike the Séance set, we played Il Divo ‘My Way’
in Italian. This was quite appropriate as Enzo had just collapsed and died and
did create a titter some nights.
Special Effects and Sound
With the use of a smoke
machine we created a dramatic entrance for the Squadron Leader and also improvised
a fire on the sofa. Through sound we produced the tapping noises, scratching on
the door, haunting sound and Pratt falling down stairs. For the final scene the
crew rigged up, books falling off shelves, pictures moving, ornaments dropping
to the floor, a tail wagging on a stuffed fox and the standard lamp flashing on
and off. This was really effective and they enjoyed setting it up.
Finally
The Charity Players always
aim for the very best from all our productions and endeavour to be as
professional as the crew and the theatre that we work in. I feel this
production was no exception with everyone rising to the challenge. It was
amazing to be involved with a ‘World Premiere’ and at the end of the day the
ultimate buzz is to play to packed houses, which we achieved. Personally, I was
delighted that we managed to ‘pull it off’, I was very proud of my troupe and
it was a great privilege and pleasure to work so closely with Peter Gordon. We
would certainly recommend the ‘Pratt Trio’.
Email
mn@stcatherines.co.uk