A Mystery With A Difference

At best I am luke warm about all things Agatha Christie, murder, Whodunnits and Midsomers, but I love a good story and that's exactly what writer Philip Meeks has delivered at York Theatre Royal.

If I have been to The Old Swan at Harrogate once, I have been there a dozen times and, on several occasions, read the plaque that proudly boasts about Christie's disappearance there in 1926, when she went to ground for 11 days prompting a media frenzy.

But it was part of the inspiration for Meeks' work with the other half coming from the deeply held secret of iconic actress, Margaret Rutherford, who first played Christie's Miss Marple on screen in the 1960's, much to the horror of the famous crime writer.

Murder, Margaret and Me is a play that began as an imagining in Meeks' mind, of an enduring friendship between these two unlikely ladies of fame. But, in reality, it transpired that such a friendship did most likely exist.

This was nothing like Shaffer's Sleuth or Rehearsal for Murder, more a profile of two grand dames from a beautifully clean perspective.

At first I wasn't sure what to make of it but slowly, very slowly, it draws you in and you become eager to understand the simmering secret that each harbours.

No, I'm not going to tell you; you must go!

The production forms part of a year-long programme of work put together by an all-female panel at York Theatre Royal, which aims to redress the imbalance in women's roles in both theatrical work and the industry as a whole.

And what a peach.

It really was a joy to watch Nicola McAuliffe in the role of Christie and her sidekick Susie Blake as Margaret Rutherford; perfect foils for one another and each so effortless on stage.

Murder, Margaret and Me began as a one hander at the Edinburgh Festival in 2012 but, thanks to a collaboration between Meeks and the Royal's Artistic Director, Damian Cruden, it has taken on new depth and, yes, I really enjoyed it more than I ever thought I would.

It feels very period and begins in an uncertain fog but, if you persevere, you emerge into a mist, daylight and then a blue sky for it gets better as it plays.

A seventy-mile round trip from my part of Leeds, but well worth the queue at the Minster traffic lights and the subsequent charge in Marygate car park!

Recommended.

Murder, Margaret and Me
York Theatre Royal
Until Saturday March 4th