The family who plays together, slays together!
The Tombs family, who can trace their heritage back to the Borgias, are a family of professional assassins. However, as darkness descends can they survive the sudden arrival of uninvited visitors at the family lair of Monument House Hotel and Health Farm?
As the evening passes, it appears that it’s not only the Tombs that have a myriad of secrets to hide, but that each of their unwelcome callers also has his or her own clandestine agenda for being at the Hotel. It’s not long before they are soon sneaking around the old mansion’s secret passages and inevitably one by one they fall victim to violent deaths by devious techniques. Mayhem ensues with unlikely liaisons, over-the-top characters and shocking plot twists which all prove to be deadly for all parties, and a murder fest occurs. All resulting in an irresistible combination of a comedy spoof and baffling murder mystery.
Prepare to Meet Thy Tomb – Boxford Village Hall 7.30pm 14th, 15th 16th March 2019. Tickets on sale in Boxford Post Office. £13 includes supper and there will be a licensed bar
BOX RIVER NEWS REVIEW
Prepare To Meet Thy Tomb follows Tomb With A View and Tiptoe Through the Tombstones to complete the trilogy of plays from Norman Robbins about the family that play together and slay together: The murderous Tombs. This comedy-thriller by was set in the home of the deadly Tomb family, Monument House.
It proved to be both entertaining and engaging trying to work out who was doing what to whom and who would turn out to be the villain of the piece. With a fairly large cast of disparate characters there were plenty of likely miscreants. As night falls and fog descends on Monument House family home, Hecuba Tomb (Elaine Carpenter) and her niece Drusilla (Beth Molloy) receive a series of unexpected visitors. First to arrive was the self important Sir Beverley Comstock (James Tolputt), threatening blackmail and bringing his rather timid and downtrodden PA Anthony Strickland (Peter Korabik) with him. Novelist Philippa (Monica Murphy) and her assistant Daphne (Margaret Clapp) arrived next seeking refuge from a mysterious follower they fear may be the notorious “Norfolk Strangler”. Hot on their heels came TV historian Quentin Danesworth (Mike Keith) and honeymooners Robert (Michael Munn) and Miranda (Francis Korabik). finally the family solicitor Cicely Venner (Angela Tolputt) came to warn the Tombs that the TV presenter was going to unmask the secret passages and rooms within the Ancient House. The uninvited guests are soon snooping around the secret passages of the creepy old mansion and asking too many questions for comfort. Sure enough, one by one they fall victim to violent deaths by devious techniques — no secret panel is unoccupied, no cup of tea untouched, and nobody is who they appear to be. This combination of spoof and baffling murder mystery, over-the-top characters and shocking plot twists made for an exciting if not confusing evening’s entertainment Each one of the cast managed to give their characters good definition and there was a nice mix of seasoned actors with the addition of some more recent faces who all made positive contributions to the on stage action with some good interaction between them. The setting of Ancient Home, lighting and sound all served their purpose. The audience was treated to an interesting evening trying to follow the twists and turns in the plot which did hold the attention throughout – a light hearted night of intrigue and mystery.
