The Barrow Arts Theatre Society’s Murder Mystery continues its trend of being a thoroughly enjoyable evening of fun and sleuthing and I continue my own trend of getting the answer wrong. But nevertheless, everyone enjoyed themselves as always.

The performance element is always my favourite part. The actors always come across as enthusiastic to be playing their parts, whether it’s through their movements and gestures or their line delivery or adopting a character’s accent. It’s clear that above all, the actors are having fun, which in turn makes it more fun for the audience. Speaking of accents, Matt Gudger gave possibly my favourite performance as Cllr Iain MacDonald (aside from Bailee the dog of course, who seemed wholly unbothered by the fact that someone had just been murdered). This is Matt’s second year in a row playing the murder victim which, as pointed out, is much easier during the second half of the show but involves a lot of stage time in the first half. So, to have maintained a Scottish accent throughout was impressive. Such a shame he ended up pushing up daisies.

Then comes the part where I always let myself down. The interrogation phase is a great concept that allows the audience to be directly involved in the production by asking the surviving cast questions to try and determine ‘who done it’. This is always an interesting way to see whom other audience members suspect before we all submit our theories at the end, at which point the killer reveals themselves and why they did what they did. While I’ve never been very good at this bit, I think it’s a great way to encourage audience members to participate in the evening and talk to the others on their tables. Feeling part of the show has always been an important part of the Murder Mysteries and I suspect is a significant factor in why people go back to see the next one. Maybe I’ll get it right next year.

Elliot Wilkes