comedy

Midnight Murder at Hamlington Hall opens onstage to the upbeat music of Olivia Newton John’s melodious voice singing her famous song “Physical”. Phillipa Chidley, played by Emily Newberry, is warming up for an upcoming play. She is moving in that wonderfully uninhibited and free way that people dance to an 80’s song, when they think they’re alone. Newberry elicits giggles in her pink leotard as she channels Olivia, and it is a great introduction to this wacky, witty, and original play!

It is the opening night of a murder mystery play put on by an amateur theatre group named the Middling Cove Players. The writer / director / actor Shane Tweed (Michael Mulvenna) and the cast and crew are in the last hours of rehearsal when they receive news that the dreaded lurgy has hit several cast members. After a brief discussion about perhaps postponing the play’s opening night, Shane confidently declares that “The show must go on!” The hitch of this? The remaining cast will need to take on two-or-more character roles in their upcoming play. This includes roping in the tough stage manager Karen, played by Kate Kelly (involved in the Middling Cove Players because of ‘community service’ for an unknown but possibly violent crime) as well as her niece, played by Ciara Briggs.

Under the tutorage of Murray Fane’s character, they are instructed that each of their characters should speak with a different accent to differentiate the characters to the audience of the play. Thus begins the “play within a play” where the cast, donning some hilarious stereotypical costumes and accents, and moving with exaggerated bluster, begin to perform the murder mystery play. It isn’t easy acting ‘like a bad actor’ but the cast throw themselves into it and achieve their goal! Exaggerated accents appear, limps manifest and many other things add a touch of ridiculous to the play.

Mishaps, big and little, continue to plague the play – from the purposely mistimed lighting and sound effects to the outrageously long sound effect at the end (no spoilers – you’ll know what I am referring to when you see this).

Joy Sweeney’s costume design added depth to the Middling Cove Players’ onstage characters, which included a psychic named Madame Esmerelda (Kate Kelly), a movie star, a Seafarer and an elderly Lady Smythe, all three characters played by Emily Newberry. Sweeney’s clever design of Murray Fane’s costumes were spot on for Colonel Munster, Farmer Giles and the Scottsman and the audience were laughing heartily as Fane races to portray all his characters and their associated costumes, sometimes one after another. This was performed with enormous energy by Fane!

As I had previously seen and loved the work of co-writer Jamie Oxenbould’s comedy Chicken in a Biscuit and the high standard performances by Pymble Players, I had hoped that Midnight Murder at Hamlington Hall was going to be an interesting and funny night of theatre. The play was also co-written by Mark Kilmurry. I wondered if the name Hamlington was a deliberate play on words – a bit of a hidden meaning within the title – as in, they were going to “ham things up”. (They certainly did!) After the performance, I looked back on sound designer Casey Moon-Watten’s opening song “Physical” and thought what a great choice this was. Director Declan Moore’s cast was full of movement, each character portraying their own physical comedy onstage which made the audience laugh, especially throughout the second act. This ranged from a quiet nuanced eye raise, notably by Karen Sharp (played by Kate Kelly), the long, long, long descent from standing to sitting because of ‘old dodgy knees’ (Newberry’s Lady Smythe) to the full on madcap purposeful exaggerated movements of Harry Moorby’s character Doctor Freddie Ermington, as he tries to stand after slipping on water, recovering, only to keep repeatedly slipping and sliding. It was like the audience was watching one of those cartoons where a character keeps tripping and slipping, with hands flailing and legs going every which way! It was a sight to see, and the audience loved it! Mulvenna’s Detective Earnest Black’s comedic intensity as he searches for the murderer, steers the play successfully to its conclusion.

In other standout scenes, the whole cast is seen changing the set and moving props under darkened lighting. Kudos to lighting designer Sean Clarke for this, a scene where the cast are moving quickly around the stage, dodging furniture and moving to music not dis-similar to a loony tunes song. The cast toss props to each other in what looked like a mess, but was, I imagine, a very co-ordinated and polished display of physical comedic timing. If you’ve ever seen a silent movie, Charlie Chaplin style, then you can imagine the zany tone of these scenes.

This could have been a disaster, because the play was ‘full of mishaps’. Instead, Pymble Players were magicians, having produced a carefully constructed chaotic comedy with the illusion of catastrophe! The only trouble I had with this play within a play was picking a favourite character.

Don’t miss watching Midnight Murder at Hamlington Hall!

This play is dedicated to Mr Tom Sweeney OAM, director of over 40 musicals and a long-term member and Vice President of Pymble Players. Declan Moore, the director of Midnight Murder at Hamlington Hall, hopes that “this one brings a smile, Tom!”.

Season run: 31 July – 9 August 2026 at The Zenith Theatre, Chatswood.
Run time: 2 hours and 25 minutes, including a 20-minute interval
Tickets: www.pymbleplayers.com.au

To book tickets to Midnight Murder At Hamlington Hall, please visit https://pymbleplayers.com.au/tickets.

Photographer: Daniel Ferris

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