one4review | On 25, Aug 2022

Northern Corner’s four person cast delivers an outstanding performance that draws you into a village drama.

Rothersdale is a quiet little village in Yorkshire where nothing much really happens. The biggest crime they’ve ever had was a stolen prize winning marrow at the village fair.

The opening scene takes place at a council meeting where the local councillor announces that he has plans to open a supermarket. The village community are outraged, and start shouting and threatening him. After the meeting finishes and he is packing up for the night, there is a knock at the door. When he answers we hear gunshots and he falls dead to the floor. His body is discovered by his secretary who calls the local constabulary to report this crime.

PC Banks, an avid fan of crime dramas, is very excited about this opportunity to solve the murder. However, her sergeant, who is due to retire soon, has other ideas and calls for the expertise of a DCI from Leeds. The DCI and PC Banks are reluctantly thrown together to solve this case. Through their investigation, we are introduced to the weird and wonderful local community, each having a potential motive for the murder.The cast capture these quirkly village characters brilliantly, particularly the florist who has self diagnosed herself as a psychopath.The DCI (who insists he’s seen it all before) is very quick to jump to conclusions. Through a very catchy song he insists “There’s no Mystery in Murder”, He undermines PC Bank’s theories and bashes on regardless. However PC Banks perseveres and you will be sitting on the edge of your seat when she realises that the conclusion is not quite adding up as it should be. The cast perform a brilliantly choreographed performance as she reviews the evidence.

You can’t believe that there were only four actors in this theatre production as they seamlessly transitioned from one character to another. The songs are well written, adding further insight to the plot. The light hearted humour throughout adds to the enjoyment of this fabulous murder mystery. Will you be able to work out who did it? Definitely recommend you get a ticket to find out.
5*****

Reviewed by Lynn

the Space on the Mile-Space 2

19:50 (50 mins)

On until 27th