Murder at Priorswell Manor performed by Lee Players

The curtain opens on the sparsely-dressed manor house of Lady Cholmondley during the 1930s. First appearances are of a poor set design, presentation, abominable use of space and stilted acting - then the comic twist is revealed: this is a play about a play! Jan McCready's direction made good use of the available performance area between the real audience and the stage, and bringing forth the witty dialogue of the script.There were some very good character and accent differences between the contemporary 'actors' and the 1930s 'characters', especially Tammy Burns (Virginia/Janette), Rosabelle Miller (Lady Dorothy/Renee), Gerry Bissell (Mr Papadopoulos/Harrison) and Jane Miles (Triggs/Sophie).Starting brightly, it did get rather stodgy in places, but the pace picked up nicely again with unexpected twists and turns. Despite a few hesitations and interruptions, this was a reasonably well-paced comic murder-mystery and a valiant attempt at bringing out the humorous situations of backstage theatrical productions.