Katy Wainwright in Reality Cheque playing a celebrity obsessed 'it girl' called Mel Marsden
A review by John Nice.
The last time I saw an Agatha Christie, Brian Blessed’s booming voice was narrating.
Whilst this new production wasn’t created by Agatha Christie, it certainly had plenty of boom and it has been inspired by her classic play called And Then There Were None.
Called Reality Cheque, it was written by Erica Dupuy and performed by Conservatoire East, the performance arm based at West Suffolk College.
Set in 2002, the cast are all asked to travel to an island for a big pay day when they take part in what they think is a reality TV show.
Then when they get to the remote dwelling based off the coast of Devon, it transpires that there is a more sinister reason for their coming together.
There are nods to 2002 – a time where reality TV was just finding its feet – but this was less Big Brother for the cast and more of a big bother for them as like with any Agatha Christie style thriller, before long, people start dropping dead in mysterious ways.
Dupuy’s direction is seamless in this sometime bloody affair that used flashback scenes to great effect.
The plot was a classic whodunnit that incorporated big themes including religion, feminism and celebrity obsession.
Apparently, the cast had to have a history lesson on what life was like back in 2002, but for those (like me) who had lived it, the music took you back to a time when Coldplay were just starting out and S Club 7 were clogging up the top ten.
In terms of the cast, it was an entirely all female affair and there was genuine chemistry between the ensemble.
Katy Wainwright played an ‘it girl’, Melissa Marsden, with poise. And Connie Dunne played administrator Victoria Claythorne with great understated magnificence.
Like I said at the start, the last time I saw an Agatha inspired effort, Brian Blessed was involved.
Brian’s famous catchphrase is Gordon’s Alive.
None of the characters in this were called Gordon and hardly any of them were alive by the end of it.
But I certainly felt blessed to have watched it.
By John Nice
The show runs until Saturday 4 May 2024 (all shows are at 7.30pm). For tickets you can visit this link:https://conservatoireeast.wsc.ac.uk/whats-on/