Christmas morning. A dead man in a locked bedroom in a house full of secrets.
Everybody has a motive.
But who’s got the key?
A time-consuming trawl through the, at the time of writing, 4.6k Folk Radio reviews fails to register any result for a Christmas Murder Mystery in spoken word and song. A similar, much wider, online search registers a similar negative outcome. In keeping with the evening’s entertainment, I conclude, therefore, mi’lord that the evidence suggests that, on the evening of December 5th, I may well have witnessed a unique event.
Written by Robb Johnson, with some editing assistance from his old school friend and mystery author Alan Beechey, this production is festive entertainment with a difference, a gruesome unsolved murder performed in the style of a BBC radio play, interspersed with songs, also composed by Robb, with the audience invited to guess the identity of the murderer.
Spoiler alert- there will be no spoilers.
The Xmas Irregulars assembled for the performance not only provide musical and vocal accompaniment but also take on the roles of the dramatis personae involved in the heinous crime. In addition to vocals and guitar, the author plays the part of Benedict Fitz-Stainsforth, son of the murdered colonel, with two of his regular Irregulars also appearing on stage. Sian Allen provides trumpet and vocals, in addition to navigating her way through portraying four different suspects, whilst long-time friend John Forrester, in the role of Cumberland Fitz-Stainforth, brother of Benedict, provides double bass and vocals. Storyteller, writer and singer Matthew Crampton once again contributes his immensely talented narrating skills to one of Robb’s projects, with the highly acclaimed BBC Folk award winner Lucy Ward completing the line-up, contributing vocals and undertaking the role of Jenny Martin, a proto-feminist private detective. (Yes, indeed, this is Robb Johnson, after all.)
Robb kindly shared the backstory with me, relating that when his sons left home, the usual family advent tomfoolery went by the board, and he decided to write a story in 24 parts and email everybody their daily instalment. With Branagh’s Death on the Nile being so well-received and the enthusiasm about how murder mysteries still resonated with contemporary audiences, this coincided with his thoughts about The Detective replacing God as a popular instrument of justice, as he explains in the opening chapter of Mystery & Poetry, the ten essays written to accompany his The Mystery Gets your Number & The Poetry Makes The Call album. Thus prompted, he turned the story into a Christmas entertainment and then adapted the story into a two-hour drama with music in the style of an old BBC radio play.
Robb’s written-word credentials are already well-established, and this venture into the whodunnit sphere shows that he is equally accomplished here too. Agatha Christie and Raymond Chandler touchstones certainly, respectful of the genre definitely, but with his own distinctive stamp; humour and occasional underlying social/political commentare present but never detract from the storyline. Yes, the raft of protagonists within the story are those that one would imagine; this includes the family, all of whom have secrets, the servants at The Grange, the Butler, the Cook, the regular visitors, the Scottish Doctor, Reverend Blenkinsop, other locals, to name but a few, all of whom have motives, and the ubiquitous policemen, here named Hodges, Dixon and Brightwell which surely cannot be a coincidence? As the evening’s entertainment progresses, the twists, turns and red herrings proliferate, as they should.
An introductory musical prelude, an arrangement of a well-known Christmas carol, commences each half of the performance, the pattern of which follows the narration of the story a chapter at a time, followed by a song. With regards to the music, it is of the highest quality, with the songs relating, even if tangentially at times, to the preceding spoken section. Ranging from very traditional Christmas-sounding pieces through to jazzy/blues, in no small part due to Robb’s tasteful Peerless Manhattan guitar-playing, enhanced by the stunning be-sequinned patent-black footwear, with John’s double bass accentuating both rhythmically and precisely, certainly enriched by the fetching tweed jacket, together with Sian’s wonderful muted-trumpet to create a warm, vibrant atmosphere. There is ample opportunity for audience participation, with catchy, sing-along choruses, along with moments of reflective poignancy, with lyrics such as “No room here for the likes of you, move on.”
During the performance, it occurs to me how clever the compositions are, it’s possible to label them as a parody or pastiche, and I mean that in the most positive of ways, and Robb seems to have nailed the ability to emulate and replicate styles in a way that puts me in mind of the late, great Neil Innes, it is that good.
To be added to the list of superlatives is the voice of Lucy. Powerful, delicate, full of raw emotion and humorous in various measures, allied to the oft-provocative femme-fatale aspects of her role, she displayed true versatility and charisma, and her rendition of Charlie Parker’s Be Bop will remain in the memory for a long time. The same must be said for the dapper Matthew’s narration and indeed, his final singing solo. Can there be a more eloquent speaker than he, surely the go-to person for any narrator role, with or without cravate?
This was a delightful extravaganza and a uniquely dark and different way to celebrate the winter season. The on-stage chemistry between the artists was a joy to behold; at times, it seemed that they found it somewhat difficult to keep straight faces, given the obvious ad-libs and facial expressions; they were obviously having as much fun as the audience, who responded rapturously at the conclusion of the show.
There is only one more opportunity to see this cracker of a show when it is on Thursday, 8th December, at Chats Place, Hackney (Ticket Link); I urge you to do so, if possible. In the meantime, Robb’s Bandcamp page has two songs from the show on his latest Christmas EP.
And yes, in keeping with the very best whodunnits, there is a final twist to the whole saga at the very end.