There is something rather lovely about spending an evening at a local theatre. For a tenner you get the whole experience; a live show, a lovely-looking set, and people giving up their time to perform, build, dress, light and stage the thing. In return, you the audience get to support one of those little cultural spaces that can disappear all too easily if people stop using them.
Tiptoe Through the Tombstones is a traditional comedy thriller full of bizarre characters, suspicious behaviour and enough twists and turns to keep the audience guessing. It has all the ingredients you would expect: an old house overseeing a gathering of eccentric relatives; secrets, murder and a general feeling that somebody probably shouldn’t drink whatever has just been poured for them.
The production certainly looked the part. The set was strong and atmospheric, fitting the slightly gothic, old-fashioned murder-mystery feel of the play very nicely. Trinity Theatre itself had joined in too, with spooky decorations dotted around the place, including a suit of armour and skulls aplenty. It all helped put the audience in the right mood before the curtain had even gone up.
The standout performance of the evening came from Charles Bonner as Vernon. He looked completely at home on stage. His lines were secure, his projection was excellent and he knew how to hold the space.
For Raven Leach, playing Edna, this is her first production with CAODS. She played her part well, with some wonderful comic timing. Hopefully this will be the first of many shows for her.
Carolyn Ferguson played Octavia, complete with lethal looking hairpin, and an air of Miss Marple’s evil twin. The audience was left wondering whether she really was a mass murderer… or whether the play was simply leading us up the garden path.
Tony Hinton took on the role of solicitor Mr Crayle, whose wicked plan drives much of the story, while Martyn Stanley brought a suitably large helping of bluster and outrage to Augustus.
Nessa Law gave Athene an appropriately ethereal quality, and Julian Gabriel Clarke, as Lewiss, the clown who seeks shelter in the strange old house, captured the growing confusion of a man who has wandered into something far stranger than he bargained for.
Other good performances came from Emma Shelley, as Crayle’s secretary Zoe, who showed some nice comic timing, while Shirley Denne clearly enjoyed the flamboyance of Fabia. Her physical comedy, particularly around the watering of the plants with her “poisoned” brandy and the investigation of the suit of armour, produced some of the more memorable moments of the evening.
Sarah Kellet, as Henrietta, fitted well into the larger ensemble scenes and completed the wonderfully odd collection of people gathered together at Monument House.
While the actors brought a lot of heart and enthusiasm to their performance, at times it felt a little tentative. Some of the cast seemed to be working hard to get from one line to the next, which fogged some of the relationships and motivations between the characters.
The visible prompt at the front of the auditorium perhaps reflected some of that uncertainty, and having the prompt so prominent did occasionally pull focus away from what was happening on stage.
There was plenty of charm in the evening. The costumes, set and general atmosphere all added to the experience, and there is something genuinely heartening about seeing grassroots theatre companies such as this exploring such a variety of plays.
For £10, you can spend an evening watching people from your community create something together, support a local company, keep venues such as Trinity Theatre alive and help make sure there is another production after this one.
There are still performances of Tiptoe Through the Tombstones to come, so if you are on the Island, give it a go. Use local theatre or lose it. And losing it would leave our communities considerably poorer.
