Midnight Murder at Hamlington Hall - Garrick Theatre Players

Reviewed by Kate O'Sullivan

---

In Midnight Murder at Hamlington Hall, the fictional Middling Cove Players—an amateur theatre troupe—find themselves on the brink of disaster: seven cast members have been struck down by illness, leaving just three actors and their harried stage manager to carry the show. What follows is a glorious unravelling of a play-within-a-play, where everything that can go wrong absolutely does, and the audience is left in stitches.

This is no ordinary farce, though. Beneath the layers of deliberate bad timing, endearing incompetence, and chaotic quick changes lies a tender tribute to the indomitable spirit of theatre-makers. Even as the production careens towards collapse, the characters cling on with sweet optimism and grit only found in those who truly love the stage. And that’s what makes Hamlington Hall such a warm and funny homage to the art form that is community theatre.

The performances from this small cast are uniformly strong and occasionally (delightfully) unhinged. Meredith Hunter’s Phillipa—an actress convinced of her own genius, barely concealing her egotism beneath a veneer of poise—is a recognisable delight. Her ability to juggle three distinct roles in the second act is genuinely impressive, and she even manages to squeeze in a musical number, complete with the kind of earnest delivery that’s very much in keeping with the character’s self-perception.

Jarrod Buttery’s Barney—an actor who takes himself far too seriously, doling out unsolicited notes to his fellow cast—is as insufferable as he is hilarious. Buttery brings the character to life with an irksome charm, and his meltdown in Act II is both comically overwrought and oddly moving.

Jim Brown captures Shane—the beleaguered writer-director-actor trying to hold the whole mess together—with believable conviction, delivering a performance that somehow feels real even as everything around him spirals into farce. Jay Shaw’s Karen, the no-nonsense stage manager barely holding her temper, provides a grounding force amid the chaos—equal parts terrifying and relatable.

Olivia Keary is an absolute delight in her brief scenes as Karen’s niece—a performance full of energy and promise, marking her as one to watch. And Jack Riches delivers a top-notch late-in-show performance, made even more effective by the fact that he spent Act I sitting in the audience—directly in front of this reviewer. When he’s pulled "from the crowd" in Act II, the illusion is near-perfect, drawing a surprised laugh and adding another clever layer to the show's many meta-theatrical tricks.

If there’s a small note to be made, it’s that the “players” in Act I—the actors playing the actors—could benefit from more grounding. A clearer delineation between them and the characters they adopt in the play-within-the-play would have added to the emotional impact, particularly when the second act hinges on our understanding of which emotions are “real” and which are “performed.”

Technically, the show hits its marks. The set is spot-on for a community theatre whodunit—familiar, functional, and intentionally drab in all the right ways. Props are well chosen (with a couple of hilarious breakable moments), and costumes do an admirable job of distinguishing characters amid the frantic role-juggling. There were a few moments where some of the backstage dialogue—those lovely bits where we’re meant to hear the actors offstage—got a bit lost under the audience’s laughter. It’s a credit to the show’s comic timing, of course, but perhaps a few backstage mics could help keep those lines audible and preserve the momentum of the scenes.

One note worth flagging: if a show's script references intimacy guidelines, the use of an intimacy coordinator in the producing of the show would lend weight and authenticity to those moments—further grounding the “real” actors in contrast with their exaggerated onstage counterparts.

But these are quibbles in a show filled with charm, effort, and genuine audience laughs. Midnight Murder at Hamlington Hall is a beautifully botched production in the best possible way—a love letter to those who soldier on against all odds, armed with only a spotlight, a script, and an unshakeable belief that the show must go on.

Reviewer Note: Kate has worked with members of this cast and crew previously. Tickets for this review were provided by the theatre company.