INTERVIEW: ‘Murder, She Didn’t Write’ is whodunit with improv twist
Photo: Murder She Didn’t Write recently extended its residency at the Leicester Square Theatre in London. Photo courtesy of Jamie Corbin / Provided by Premier Comms with permission.
It’s difficult to predict who the murderer will be in the riotous comedy Murder, She Didn’t Write, currently playing an extended engagement at the Leicester Square Theatre in London and also heading out on tour in the United Kingdom. The impossibility of finding the culprit is because this unique show is improvised by the talented group of actors, all in conjunction with a willing audience.
The show comes to London courtesy of Degrees of Error, a theatrical company that has brought the comedy to the Edinburgh Fringe, around the England and back again. In the piece, audiences get to pool their resources and craft the Agatha-Christie-inspired mystery.
Performances are set for March 24, April 28 and May 19 in London, plus shows in other cities, including Teignmouth, Bristol, Porthcawl, Gainsborough, Bowness-on-Windemere and Lancaster.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Lizzy Skrzypiec, star and co-director of Murder, She Didn’t Write. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
How difficult was it to co-direct an improvisational show?
Improv is very hard to direct. It’s more like training for a boxing match. You can practise the moves and learn new tactics, but when the fight begins, you’ve got to roll with the punches. There is no repeat in script or scenes, so we as directors take a much wider view of the show. We direct through feedback and workshops and then have an editorial eye over how things are portrayed on stage.
Performing in a show I also direct is an unusual gig. I guess lots of film directors manage to both direct and star in their films: Woody Allen, Ben Affleck, Mel Brooks to name a few. Did I just compare myself to Ben Affleck!? But co-directing with Steve [Clements] makes this much easier. Steve and I we can watch each other, see the show from different viewpoints, and we often take it in turns to sit out and see the show from the audience’s perspective.
Have you been surprised by the many twists and turns of each performance?
Constantly. It’s my favourite part of improv. I think the beauty of spontaneity and the places it can lead are the reason some people fall in love with the art. It’s electric! I once played one half of a husband and wife opera/ dance duo in a murder mystery based around an opera. My husband, Mr. Green, and I stumbled across the victim’s body and in a moment of weird silliness licked the victim’s face to identify an unusual residue … we’d found. It was at that point the detective stopped the show and said, ‘I sure do hope that wasn’t poisonous!’ and that was it.
Mr. Green and I clutched at our throats and had a rather dramatic and touching final few moments together before we died on top of the victim. Thus the number of murder suspects was very suddenly reduced by two. It was a glorious moment of surprise between Mr. Green and I that our characters would be so stupid as to taste poison left at the crime scene.
Has the cast and creative been influenced by Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap and similar stories? Are you personally a fan of these whodunits?
I think our show has a very Christie feel about it. The absurdity, the farce, the drama, the intrigue are all something we try to bring into the show. We all love different aspects of murder mysteries. I personally was a huge fan of the TV shows Murder, She Wrote, Moonlighting and Diagnosis Murder. I am pretty sure I’ve seen every episode of each.
Some members of the cast are big readers of Christie or Arthur Conan Doyle. I’ve no doubt that my co-director, Steve, has read a huge number of them. We all bring our own personal love of the genre to the show. However, every show we do has the classic detective character, a death in unusual circumstances and a thrilling denouement — the essential ingredients of any tasty murder mystery.
What’s the future for the production?
It’s hard to say. We have recently expanded our cast as we have been booked for more and more gigs. We will be returning to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August and continuing our residency at the Leicester Square Theatre, performing there every month. Aside from that, it’s performing the show as often as we can. But who knows, we have done a few themed shows of late, including a Halloween-themed murder mystery (Murder, She Didn’t Fright) and our gender swapped version of the show for Gay Pride (Murder, He Didn’t Write).
Does the show ever have hiccups because there is so much audience participation and improvisation?
Perhaps in its earlier days when we would get thrown by absurd or politically sketchy suggestions, but now we are much more comfortable in the show’s skin. We have performed Murder, She Didn’t Write such a large number of times that we revel in those moments of craziness. The important thing is to be in touch with what the audience want and to find joy in the spontaneity of it all rather than worry about the logistics or weirdness of it.
I’ve been given suggestions of stuff I didn’t know or had never even heard before. The important thing is to have fun, be honest and laugh off any mistakes. Often the show is much funnier for it! If the audience want to see a murder mystery set in space, then that’s what they’re going to get!
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Murder, She Didn’t Write is currently playing at the Leicester Square Theatre in London and is on tour throughout the United Kingdom. Click here for more information and tickets: http://www.degreesoferror.com/tour/
