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MURDERED TO DEATH
West Moors Drama Society
Memorial Hall
West Moors
February 2003

A COUNTRY House weekend, a rich old lady and her niece, a retired Colonel, a French art dealer, a drunken butler and a local sleuth, not to mention a murder or two – no, not an Agatha Christie plot but a glorious spoof that had the West Moors audience almost falling off their chairs with laughter.
I knew we were in for a good evening when the curtains parted to reveal a first-class set, and I wasn’t disappointed. The costumes were to die for, Shelagh Rundle’s direction was fast-paced and her cast, several of whom were newcomers, did her proud with fine characterisations.
Jo Hilliard made a most impressive debut as Dorothy, niece of elderly Mildred (Linda Middleton), and Albert Cook as their butler, Bunting, also had a good stage presence.
There were extremely strong performances too from the “guests” – Colonel Craddock (Mark Austin), his wife Margaret (Jane Hilliard), Pierre Marceau (Dan Sheen) and his girlfriend Elizabeth Hartley-Trumpington (Shirley Seager), while Janet Price was perfect as dowdy spinster and amateur sleuth Joan Maple. And Phil Bowditch and Rob Baker made the most of the hapless Inspector Pratt and his accident-prone sidekick, Constable Thomkins.
And did the butler do it? Wouldn’t you like to know.

Linda Kirkman
Courtesy of the Bournemouth Daily Echo


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