Cluedo is one of the most popular board games in history. Invented by musician Anthony E.Pratt nearly 80 years ago as a way of relieving boredom during WW2 air raid blackouts, the idea for Murder! as it was first called, and then Clue, came from murder mystery parties at English country estates, at which Pratt would play the piano.
A hit film 'Clue' followed many years later in 1985 and tonight we get to see all that murderous action on stage in the brand new Cluedo stage play. Directed by Mark Bell, who also directed The Play That Goes Wrong, the action is set at the country house of, wait for it - Boddy Manor, owned by Lord Boddy.
No sooner have the colourful - in more ways than one - dinner guests Miss Scarlett, Professor Plum, Mrs Peacock, Reverend Green, Mrs White and Colonel Mustard set foot through the creaky doors than the inhabitants begin to dwindle in number. Done away with by a murderer aided by an assortment of handy household weapons.
Read more : Theatre bar "gutted" after being denied funding for disabled access
The reason for the guests' invitation from the mysterious Lord Boddy, it transpires, is something they all have in common - corrupt dealings of one sort or another.
Hysteria, blackmail and backbiting ensue as they all try to lay the blame on each other, desperate to find the murderer in their midst.
TV's Daniel Casey of Midsomer Murders fame makes a suitably sleazy Professor Plum, while the role of the sexy Miss Scarlet fits former EastEnders and Corrie actress Michelle Collins like a glove.
By far the star of the night though is butler Wadsworth, played by Jean-Luke Worrell. His physicality and comic ability combined make for a highly amusing and memorable performance.
Suavely sinister to start with, then morphing delightfully into a version of Basil Fawlty from TV'S Fawlty Towers, he combines a faux humility with an extraordinary physical agility and heavy dose of sarcasm as he slithers and struts his way across the stage.
Along with the talented Harry Bradley, who makes the most of all his roles from Lord Boddy to passing motorist to policeman, Worrell also shows off his improvisation skills when an unscripted - and of course all the funnier for it - mishap occurs in a scene involving the pair.
The maid Yvette, played by Laura Kirman, raises many a chuckle too with her cod French accent - a quirky combination of West Country, Lancashire and Franglais.
The set is atmospheric and inventive and very much how you would imagine the Cluedo manor to look.
Dialogue is pleasingly innuendo-laden but is at times extremely rapid, making details easy to miss for anyone who might have been hoping to work out 'whodunnit'.
For anyone not a stickler for the board game though and seeking pure entertainment rather than intrigue, you won't be disappointed.
READ NEXT :
- Huge new Creams Cafe dessert bar revealed for Manchester Arndale Centre
- Ten restaurants in Manchester that we loved... and lost
- The Lion King announces NEW extended dates for Manchester
- The best ice cream farms worth a drive out around Manchester and Cheshire
- Morrison's makes huge change to their cafe menu which makes them cheaper than most
