Midlands Fringe Review - The Death of Dr Black
The Qattery, Wolverhampton’s very first cat café was the ‘purrfect’ venue for this magical mix of Cluedo meets David Copperfield. Dressed in hat and tweeds, more like a character from the Dickens novel of the same name, Andrew a.k.a Detective Stannard charmed the audience with his cool, collected manner before selecting his unsuspecting suspects.
A series of mesmerising magical evidence unfolded involving an abundance of black boxes and bold moves.
Sighs of relief were audible after a game of deadly left or right fell in the right hands.
Could a magical Rubik’s cube hold a clue to the killer? Would a set of old-fashioned scales be enough to weigh up the evidence?
The audience were fully involved throughout in solving this deadliest of crimes, including a latecomer who didn’t have a clue but was welcomed into booing the suspects anyway!
The show continued to a crescendo of accusations and defence in the form of a famous reggae rapper’s line. Instead of Mrs White the Cook in the Kitchen we had an IT worker from Cannock placed there instead. She was let off the hook though as the luckiest man in the house turned out to be the unluckiest. Black cats wielding their power from upstairs perhaps?
No spoilers here as each show will have different suspects and outcome every time.
All in all, The Death of Dr Black was an enigmatic and entertaining hour in which, although it was performed in daylight, with a floor to ceiling window behind him, Andrew managed to create an atmosphere of smoke and mirrors.
And although the murder was solved, I was left wondering how he weaved his cleverly calculated magic.
By Anne Ryan-Thomas
