Laughing in the face of death!
- May 1
- 3 min read
A Tomb With A View. A comedy thriller by Norman Robbins. At the Bear Pit Theatre from 30 April to 3 May. A Phoenix Players Production.
Review by Ann Evans
Take one cobweb strewn mansion, a library without books, a dusty old portrait of grandfather Tomb and a family of sinister and slightly insane brothers and sisters, all eager to know how much they will inherit in the old man’s will now that he has shuffled off this mortal coil… or has he?
That’s just one of the questions these off-the-wall individuals are trying to work out as they wait for the family solicitor, Hamilton Penworthy (Rob Warnes) to read the will. And there's another perplexing question - who is the unknown beneficiary due at the house at any moment? Why would a stranger be inheriting some of the old man’s multi million pound fortune?
This turns out to be a romantic novelist, Freda Mountjoy (Madaleine Williams) and her secretary Peregrine Potter (Adam Rastall). At least that’s who they say they are. But clearly nothing is as it seems.
Meanwhile we get to know the family and their eccentric ways. There’s Marcus Tomb (Philip Leigh) with his Shakespearian voice and demeanour, continually acting out Julius Caesar and watched over by his nurse (Eloise Essiq).
There’s Dora Tomb (Lisa Maxwell) – my favourite crackpot of the family, who just can’t stop murdering people and burying them in the garden! Then there's Emily Tomb (Hannah McBride) who seems the only normal one in the family, and Lucien Tomb (Graham Robson) the eldest member of the family, who is slowly losing his marbles but with some very funny mannerisms – my second favourite character in the crazy household.
We can’t forget man-mad Monica Tomb (Karen McDonald) who almost eats poor Peregrin Potter alive! And finally, the housekeeper, (Fiona Robson), who cleans up after everyone, particularly wiping blood from blades, and fingerprints from guns. Ah, one more family member, Oliver Tomb, who we don't see as he's locked in the dungeon because he could be a werewolf. His howling voice is by Dylan Beecher.
With a cast of characters as wacky as these, you can see you’re in for an evening of farcical entertainment, and the only thing you can do is settle down, suspend belief, and get ready for the unexpected – the screams, the gunshots, the stabbings, the strangulations – and did I mention the poisonings? And as for what they find in the cardboard box… well, poor old Lucien, is all I can say! It’s a crazy, fun-filled romp of dark comedy and outrageous goings on.
I could criticise the wordiness of the script, which needed cutting down and tightening up – even more than they had already done, so I was told. But well done to the actors who coped with so many lines – particularly when the themes of the major events were quite similar. That is, a murder, a conversation over who did it, the decisions to get help, the reasons why they don’t get help, another murder…
As for the acting and the characters that was just great. I loved all of these madcap people, and loved the way they were portrayed.
As for who actually did it… to be honest, I’m not too sure, but the whole play was a lot of fun and definitely different.
For tickets go to: https://thebearpit.meandhimdesign.co.uk/whats-on/a-tomb-with-a-view/
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