Cluedo: So Clever And Funny At The Wolverhampton Grand

I saw Cluedo earlier in the year at The Alexandra Theatre, and the greatest compliment I can give it is that I was so looking forward to seeing it again at the Wolverhampton Grand, because in the realms of both cleverness and hilarity, it is truly off the scale. A comedy that not only channels the ‘golden age of murder’ with its nods to Agatha Christie, and the famous board game it is based on, but also references that great British tradition of physical comedy and farce, Cluedo is hilariously entertaining with a killer cast. It is not to be missed.

Anyone who spent rainy days playing the board game is well familiar with the story. Six guests are invited to attend a dinner at Boddy Manor on a dark and stormy night. Each has received a strange letter, and are unknown to each other, but all are being blackmailed by the host Lord Boddy, a man who knows where all the bodies are buried, so to speak. On arrival they are greeted by the butler, Wadsworth, an excitable, slightly sinister character, and eventually get to meet their hosts, who says he will rise the cost of his blackmail unless they kill Wadsworth. Each is given a weapon…and then the lights go out. When they come on again, there is a body. A murder has been committed, but who is the victim, and who is the killer?

The cast are all brilliant, this is the perfect cast. Wadsworth, as played by Jean-Luke Worrell, has it all, he gives a wonderfully energetic, effervescent performance that is acrobatic, over the top and so, so funny. The board game characters, Miss Scarlett (Michelle Collins), Professor Plum (Daniel Casey), Wesley Griffin (Colonel Mustard), Etisyai Philip (Mrs White), Judith Amsenga (Mrs Peacock) and Tom Babbage (Reverend Green) are uniformly excellent. All are funny, perfectly casted for the sort of slapstick comedy that the play is full of, and totally having the best time, which is infectious, and the fact that they manage to do all this with a straight face needs applauding in itself. It is hard to pick a standout but I loved Wesley Griffin’s utterly stupid Colonel Mustard. Mention must also be given to Laura Kirman as Yvette, and Harry Bradley as the ensemble male characters, including a policeman and a stranded driver. Both Harry and Laura are excellent and are totally in on the jokes, with wandering accents and in Harry’s case, a problematic moustache, adding the to already hilarious proceedings. And don’t even get me started on the singing telegram…

The set is fabulous, a maze of rooms that pull out so you feel that you are in Boddy Manor, almost becoming another part of the cast. The cast move at a fast and furious pace throughout the set, carrying chairs, heading in and out of doors and rooms, almost in the best tradition of Scooby Do! This is one play that never lets the pace slip, it never lets up in the humour, and I defy anyone to leave without saying ‘Larry’ all the way home.

In the best British tradition of slapstick humour, Cluedo is a complete hoot!

Cluedo

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre 12th – 16th July

Click here for ticket information

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