Murder Village: An Improvised Whodunnit: Go Ask The Butler ~ Adelaide Fringe 2024 Review

[COMEDY/Improv ~ VIC ~ SA PREMIERE]  Dom Polski Jeden at Dom Polski, Sat 2 Mar, 2024. As we arrive tonight we are cordially greeted by Detective Inspector Owen Gullet and his Poirot-like sidekick Monsieur Aragon Pewter and asked if we are expecting a murder! As happens every night, we are also invited to vote on who will die in tonight’s mystery, who will be the murderer, and what will be the tell-tale clue. Murder Village is an improvised whodunnit comedy spoofing Agatha Christie and Midsummer Murders-type crime shows. No two shows are the same, but they will all be very silly and very funny. Apart from our two hosts there are four other cast members who can be given a different character to play each night. Listen carefully for the characters’ names as they are guaranteed to be a hoot. The cast take the audience suggestions away and in a few minutes come up with a rough outline of a play. As you can imagine this leads to lots of outrageous silliness and archetype characters dealing with unbelievable situations. One of our characters tonight is obsessed with mating his owl with a cow. Part of the entertainment is not just laughing at the antics yourself, but also watching cast members as they valiantly fight back their own giggles when a character goes off on a rave or tangent (or asks for a hug!). Being all seasoned improvisers they hold it together, but you can imagine a lot of fun is had by the cast trying to get each other to break down. The room is full and some of the audience sitting next to me seem a little perplexed by the random direction of the script, perhaps not understanding its improv nature. But this is a tight knit team who know each other well and their acting reflects this. To keep the excitement going apparently in future shows there may be guest improvisers from Adelaide popping in to do guest appearances. This is pure entertainment with no deep and meaningful revelations, but an enjoyable light-hearted look at the murder mystery genre done in such a way as to have you chuckling away. They must be doing something right as the season is almost sold out. Come and join the fun. 3.5 stars Cathy Tune Murder Village continues at Dom Polski Jeden at Dom Polski from 7.30pm until Sun 10 Mar. Book at FringeTIX and adelaidefringe.com.au. Click HERE to purchase your tickets. #ClotheslineMag #ADLfringe