By Elaine Horne.
BOX RIVER NEWS REVIEW
A MATTER OF WIFE AND DEATH
Fans of Agatha-Christie-type murder-mystery whodunnits eagerly awaited the Boxford Drama Group’s March 2023 production of A Matter of Wife and Death and were left guessing right up to the very end as to who the murderer was!
Written and directed by BDG’s very own Elaine Horne, the play took the audience back to 1954, and the Windrush Hall stately home owned by confirmed batchelor Sir Geoffrey Windrush-Bottom-Botham. As the staff keep the Hall maintained whilst Sir Geoffrey is on a world cruise (and rebuff efforts from very distant family members to scrounge from his estate), their world is turned upside-down by his unannounced early homecoming. Sir Geoffrey returns, not alone as he left them, but newly-married to glamorous harridan Lady Arabella, who wastes no time in imposing her iron will over the shocked staff.
In an impressively short space of time Lady Arabella announces plans to sack the entire staff, turf out the scroungers and transform the country seat of the venerable Windrush-Bottom-Botham line into a gaudy but lucrative gentlemens’ club, thereby providing literally everyone with a motive for murdering her.
But, when the deed is finally done, who was it that did it, and how? Each character is cross-examined by the others with plausible evidence and the audience was kept guessing right up to the very end for the denouement of the actual culprit. We witnessed the dissolution of the once-tight bonds between the staff and Sir Geoffrey, all handled by the BDG actors with great faux-outrage, comedy and delivery.
Each cast member handled their character with confidence and style and it was a joy to see a great play realised by them. A special shout-out must go to Monica Murphy’s hilarious cleaning-lady Edie “I said-I say” Scroggins who kept the audience laughing with pretty much every line she performed.
A huge thank you to all the cast members, the production crew and to Elaine Horne for her great play. It was a great night out, thoroughly enjoyed by the whole audience!
