Review: Murder on the ‘Not-So' Orient Express
Immersive/interactive theatrical murder mysteries can make for a great evening out—as a first date, a family celebration, a get-together with a group of friends, and even for corporate events or fundraisers. The format of such shows is relatively simple: there is usually a ‘body’ (difficult to have a murder mystery without a death, after all!), a cast of apparent strangers, opportunities for the audience to become part of the action, and for the participants to help to solve the mystery (‘dress ups’ and cocktails optional). Perhaps in tribute to the popularity of the Agatha Christie novels, the setting is often in the 1920s, and a ‘confined’ location—such as a train or house.
Mystify’s Murder on the ‘Not-So’ Orient Express promised to be an entertaining 80 minutes of mayhem, mystery, intrigue and entertainment—and certainly had all the hallmarks of popular interactive murder mysteries. A 1930s journey on a train, a body, a cast of apparent strangers (but are they?), and a mystery or two to be solved.
Picture: Ben Bartholomew (William Baker [prisoner]), and audience, in Murder on the ‘Not-So Orient Express (Credit: Creative Futures Photography).
Picture: Amelia Slatter (Bernard Walters), handing out business cards to members of the Murder on the ‘Not-So Orient Express audience (Credit: Creative Futures Photography).
Picture: Great set for Murder on the ‘Not-So Orient Express (Credit: Creative Futures Photography).
Mystify assembled a great cast for the show. Ben Rawson (Conductor), Chris Kellett (Leon Payne [Guard]), Amelia Slatter (Bernard Walters), Ben Bartholomew (William Baker [prisoner]), Abby O'Brien (Ruth Wallace), and Siobhan Robertson (Lucille Schmidt) were more than up to the challenges of their roles. The costumes were great, and the set had lots of excellent details (the transformation for the EC Venue space into a 1930s ‘train’ worked really well). Opportunities for audience participation were really well-planned, with everyone given tasks to join in at various points during the show. I liked the writing (Siobhan Robertson not only played Lucille, but is also the writer, director, and half of Mystify), and could see that the story would make an interesting Christie-style novel—and was probably a great hit when the show was performed as a dinner-show on an historic train at Caboolture Historical Village.
I caught Murder on the ‘Not-So’ Orient Express before the rest of the EC Venue run was called to an abrupt halt, due to a covid-positive case. Let’s hope for a full recovery, and perhaps the pause will give the Mystify team the opportunity to make a few tweaks before the next train leaves the station. Nothing major, but I’d suggest a little more emphasis on the audience being on a train (more opportunities for the Conductor to emphasise ‘all aboard,’ and perhaps even to announce the brief interval as stop to take on more provisions?). For this audience member it would have helped to have a clearer list of instructions (I struggled to read the prompts in the low light), and I wasn’t sure that in interval set ‘move’ was needed. I’d also suggest reducing the complexities of the script: I’ve kept my plot references to a minimum in the interests of avoiding spoilers, and also because this particular mystery had a few too many twists, turns and revelations for a show that ran for 80+ minutes.
Congratulations to the Mystify team—and all good wishes for a speedy recovery.
Verdict: I’d be very interested to see a future iteration of this interactive 1930s mystery.
Audience information: Murder on the ‘Not-So’ Orient Express, EC Venue, 17 McLachlan Street, Fortitude Valley, QLD (21-22 May, 2022, 3:30pm and 5:30pm). Very occasional coarse language, and murder references (!). Tickets $40. 80 minutes.
The reviewer attended the Saturday 21 May (3:30pm) performance.
Pictures Credit: Creative Futures Photography. A copy of this review appeared first on the Anywhere Festival website.