Erin Harrington reviews Murder! At the Hotel Bon, directed by Georgie Sivier and Kat Forrester for Play Space Productions, at Riccarton House, Wednesday 26 July 2023.
Play Space Productions’ immersive comedy Murder! At the Hotel Le Bon marries late 1940s Hollywood glamour with Hollywood squalor, as we – a group of film investors turned detectives – attempt to figure out who has killed a leading lady, the night of a film’s premiere.
This is the third year the company have staged a show in Riccarton House, an historic homestead whose downstairs spaces are populated with heavy curtains, gloomy portraits, rich wooden panelling, and many, many stags’ head trophies. Last year’s foray, the wonderful My Nightmare Wedding, gave people the opportunity to wander freely through the venue while an evening’s wedding preparations were going down the drain. This year’s production, again devised by the cast with co-directors Georgie Sivier and Kat Forrester, is a slightly more structured affair. We start in the foyer for drinks and canapes, and to admire those many audience members who have come dressed to theme. Then, to the Great Room of the Hotel Le Bon, where we, as executive producers, will enjoy the premiere screening of the new film Murder! At the Hotel Le Bon, and meet the team. Very meta.
The film doesn’t work. Okay – new-fangled technology and that. So slick producer Charlie Copperfield (Sophie Ricketts) starts going full schmooze, while her megalomaniac husband, director Dorian (Benny Gilling), berates us with his views on art. The stars want some time too. There’s all-American leading man Joseph (Jack Sutton), young bad boy heartthrob Ellis (Ethan McIntyre), and sultry German star Giselle (Isabel Lutz). Three of the four red-headed Webster ‘sisters’ are present: Doreen (Nicole Cochrane), Francine (Kim Fenton) and Maxine (Tori Johnston). They resent each other as much as they are committed to their cutesy close-harmony act – so long as the money and film roles keep coming in. And the remaining sister, Irene Webster? Dead upstairs, oops, smothered, with only a smeary make up face on a pillow to represent her. Everyone has something to hide, but also something to gain from her death; “so sad!” chorus her sisters with big frowny faces as they side-eye each other. At stake: film contracts, affairs, money, fame, and – perhaps – an Oscar?
In three groups we cycle through the foyer, the dining room and the great room to watch scenes play out in parallel. The self-interested characters variously blackmail, cajole, harass, threaten, flirt, double cross and baldly lie to one another as they attempt to come out on top, like a bunch of crabs scuttling over each other in a bucket. It’s fast-paced, with a sense of barely contained chaos. Clues – business cards, sordid news items, contracts – are scattered about the place. We have notepaper and pencils, and there’s even a murder board near the front door if we want to add more red wool to connect the characters during the drinks break halfway through. Themed cocktails, mingling, comparing notes – so much to do!
I really enjoy Play Space Productions’ work. Their shows have a different sensibility to other offerings in the city. In part it’s because they draw from a few different pools of Christchurch creatives, including long-form improv group Impulse Theatre, but they also have a satisfying sense of camp and the absurd. The act of not taking things seriously is taken very seriously. The wigs and costumes are equal parts great, ridiculous, and a bit rough around the edges in a very pleasing manner. The American accents are pretty fast and loose (okay, maybe very loose). There’s a stagey wink-wink at the audience throughout that invites us into the game, and our roles as participant-observers. But for all the exaggeration and slippage the show is very focused and clear in its intentions. I can see the mechanics of the scenes whirring away at speed. Performers are very present, meeting each other’s energy and offers, and hitting their marks as they race from room to room in some very specific scene choreography. And there’s room for some looseness. It’s some of the throwaway quips that really get to me, such as Rickett’s comment to a guest as they settle in a large leather sofa in the foyer that “I hear under the moose is the most desirable spot”.
As with much devised work there’s perhaps scope to shave a bit off some of the individual scenes and condense the scripting without compromising the very messy web of plot points and allegiances. At three hours it’s quite a long night, but timings are pretty tight and the action doesn’t lag. Kudos to pianist Criss Grueber, who plays solidly all night, and whose extemporisations carefully signal scene changes and audience transitions with the assistance of butler Belvedere (Michael Adams) and bellhop Bobby (Courtney Wright).
In keeping with previous Riccarton House shows, I also appreciate the attention that’s gone into ensuring the characters have clear arcs and motivations, and authentic relationships with every other cast member – evidence of a strong devising process. The machinations of the squeaky, fairweather Websters are particularly fun. Over the evening I become deeply invested in Ronnie (Debbie Bourke), an aggressively cheerful, ex-carnie talent agent with a fur coat, a slippery wiseguy accent, a dead husband, a stack of dubious contracts featuring death clauses and blood oaths, and an eye for the next big thing. I can’t stop watching her – it’s terrific.
At the end all is revealed, of course, with gasps, accusations, and a song for a satisfying closer. Whoops and hollers from the appreciative audience. It’s a really enjoyable night. You can pay close attention to alibis and the clues that have been scattered around the rooms and foyer, or (like most of us) just point the finger at whoever you think is the shadiest reprobate. After all it’s not show-friends, it’s show business.
Murder! At the Hotel Bon runs until Saturday 29 July.
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