REVIEW: The Mirror Crack'd, People's Theatre, Newcastle
Christie's Miss Marple on the case
Her publishers, no doubt rubbing their hands in anticipation of the annual windfall, used to push the idea of “a Christie for Christmas”, helping to sustain her status as a mega-mega-seller.
The author, nothing if not prolific, would duly deliver.
It works in the theatre, too, although a Christie after Christmas is the People’s tradition (there’s no shifting the panto).
The choice this year was The Mirror Crack’d and on opening night the place was pack’d.
And not just in the auditorium but on stage, readied for scenes in Miss Marple’s cottage and contrastingly grand Gossington Hall.
We can see through to the back wall, too, where the sound effects people lurk in the shadows. There’s a lot to look at and to listen out for. In the Cluedo game that’s a Christie you must keep your wits about you.
Gossington, recently bought by film star Marina Gregg, is the subject of much gossip.
Why has Hollywood relocated to an English village? And what actually happened at that welcome party thrown by Miss Gregg and her controlling husband, American film director Jason Rudd?
Not all who attended the bash emerged to tell the tale. RIP Heather Leigh.
Miss Marple wasn’t there. She hurt her ankle and must rest at home attended by new maid Cherry and, grudgingly, Chief Inspector Craddock, cast in this telling as Miss M’s nephew.
The hapless and clueless Craddock gets it in the neck from the audience too, his put-down of his aunt as “just a spinster” greeted with a gasp of indignation.
Sean Burnside, cast as the Scotland Yard man, gamely soldiered on.
Miss Marple (as with Poirot in other Christie plays) must cut the mustard and Karen Elliott, daintily turned out, finds the human qualities of the shrewd amateur sleuth.
Being more about clues than character development, a Christie play can be a wooden affair but I enjoyed Miss Marple’s comical exchanges with snooty friend Dolly Bantry (Maggie Childs as Gossington’s former owner).
It’s likely that the humour in director Sam Hinton’s production owes less to Christie than to Rachel Wagstaff whose modern adaptation premiered just a few years ago.
To Wagstaff, too, we can probably attribute the style of the piece, with repeated flashbacks to key moments.
It reminded me of those TV drama-documentaries (think Lucy Worsley) where the narrative is paused for consideration of the facts. In one scene, for instance, the likely suspects are all lined up front of stage.
Goodness, they’re a shifty-looking bunch. And there are loads of them!
At the heart of it all is Marina Gregg, her name inappropriately triggering (for me, anyway) thoughts of sausage rolls.
Much more Hollywood-sounding is Moira Valentine who plays the fading screen star with panache, and makes good use of a chaise longue, that furniture item designed with the poseur in mind.
A large cast, a busy set, myriad twists and turns and a neat little homily at the end from Miss M. to tie things up… can’t ask for much more than that from the annual Christie, although better plays must surely lie ahead.
Check out the season brochure – and if you’re seeing this show, spend some time looking at the foyer exhibition by Su Jayne Devine, from Whitley Bay. Her Curios of the Mind, reflecting aspects of mental health, is arresting, to say the least.
The Mirror Crack’d runs until Saturday, January 24. Tickets from the People’s Theatre box office.
Solid take on the Wagstaff adaptation. That flashback structure works way better on stage than the linear Christie format, lets the audience actually process the clues instead of being burried in exposition. I've seen directors try to modernize these plays and it usually falls flat but the TV docudrama approach sounds like it keeps things engaging without losing the whodunit vibe.