Reviewer: Daniel Shipman
Upstaged Rating: ⭐⭐
A play, based on a film, based on a board game. What could go wrong? Turns out the answer is: quite a lot. Cluedo follows the misadventures of six seemingly unconnected characters arriving at a remote manor house and given colourful pseudonyms (Colonel Mustard, Professor Plum, etc.). Everything goes wrong as the staff are murdered one by one and the guests grow increasingly paranoid. The perfect recipe for a whodunnit-comedy? Not quite…
An ensemble comedy based on the 1985 cult classic Clue might sound like a sure-fire hit, but unfortunately, the tepid writing and a sheer lack of jokes hold this adaptation down, as does uninspired direction from Mark Bell. As a matter of full disclosure, I’m far from a devotee of the original film, but it’s easy to read the audience in the room for this show. Their laughter rarely gets above a polite chortle and never once approaches the belly laughs that one would expect from a comedy based on an established favourite.
This is unfortunate, as the ensemble cast is undeniably energetic but their movements are uniform and occasionally stilted, never really adding to the comedy. That is an especially criminal thought when you consider that this production had a specific movement director in the form of Anna Healey. In light of this, I’d have expected much more effective physical comedy and some more recognisable mannerisms for each character.
Jean-Luke Worrell serves admirably as Wandsworth the butler, but his performance never quite manages to lift itself above a tribute act to Tim Curry’s performance in the film. A successful and entertaining tribute perhaps, but devoid of any real originality.
Harry Bradley is also worth a mention as Mr Body/Police Constable. His improvisation in the face of a rogue moustache is the funniest part of the evening, but this perhaps says as much about the quality of Sandy Rustin’s script than it does about Bradley’s performance.
All in all, Cluedo never quite manages to achieve a place as a homage to the film, a parody of whodunnits, or a successful farce in its own right. It remains trapped awkwardly between all three of these, to the severe detriment of any comedic potential it might have had. Turns out it was Mark Bell, in the Lowry, with a dud.
-Daniel Shipman
Cluedo runs at The Lowry until Saturday 2 July 2022.
Can’t believe the positive reviews on this show. The stage set was cumbersome. The transitions from room to room (which could have been made a recurrent comedic moment) dragged. The first act was turgid, lacking any humour or audience involvement; mainly due to average direction producing slow tempo, lacklustre performance and poor characterisation. I heard only one audience wide laugh!
More could easily be made of this production which cried out for more audience asides, over the top character portrayals ( where the butler stood head and shoulders over the rest of the cast along with the maid) and where the same actor playing the host, the driver and the policeman should have been made a running joke.
The second act improved in tempo and comedic performance as it progressed, though the house search sequence was over long and could have been made funnier perhaps with a keystone cops silent movie type momentum.
Overall I would say 4.5/10. A work in progress they need to do better.
PS I’ve had more fun playing the game and it’s cheaper than 2 tickets!