As a mashup of The Last of Sheila, and the more recent Murder Trial Tonight, Death’s Veiled Agenda provides an entertaining puzzle for the actors and audience to unravel as well as one genuine surprise … and some showreel-friendly solo scenes. Six friends gather at Thornfield Manor to play an escape room, dressing up to solve a series of clues hidden in the different rooms of the manor. There will be some surprising secrets uncovered and – as promised from almost the opening line – there will be murder. But who is going to die? How? And why?
Presented by KO Company, Death’s Veiled Agenda is co-written by KO’s founder Kian O’Callaghan and Abby Hope Patrick who also directs. Among the impressive young cast, nearly half of whom are still in training, several are outstanding: Charlotte Bass is hilariously over the top as one of the escape room staff; Isabel Da Silva is imperious as Bea; and a fabulous Rosie Hunt milks the comedy nicely as Bea’s sister, the vacuous Evelyn, who plays a central role in the surprise. Lily Barker impresses as the hyper-intelligent Ruby but others in the cast are slightly less effective. The play’s co-author Kian Callaghan is a little inconsistent in his portrayal of Dylan, a camp-as-Christmas numbskull who cannot tell the time and is unsure of the months of the year. In the under-written role of Grace, Daisy Pearson has to work hard to overcome a pantomime edge to her character, not helped by her costume. As Caleb, the romantic lead, Ben Welshman is not entirely convincing and, completing the cast as Owen, Aaron King needs a little more nuance for his character to work.
Where Death’s Veiled Agenda works less well is mainly down to the rather old-fashioned direction – there are too many scenes, especially at the start, in which characters speak in a line, motiveless movement and misplaced pauses (in the middle … of speeches) and it all gets a bit shouty at times. More thought needs to be given too to the staging. Ben Welshman’s set is superb but when the cast pair off and exit to search for clues they of course all end up in the same place, sometimes simultaneously, which makes for an at times very cluttered stage – a line of dialogue to the effect that all the rooms of the Manor are identical but each hold different clues would have dealt with that.
At nearly 2 ½ hours, the mystery is stretched too thinly – there’s a reason enduring whodunnits like The Mousetrap run for less than two hours – but cut to around an Edinburgh-friendly hour and with tighter direction, Death’s Veiled Agenda would deliver a real punch.
Review by Louis Mazzini
In the dim corridors of Thornfield Manor, guests uncover secrets within ancient walls, finding themselves entangled in a web of deception and danger. Amidst a murder mystery party, a real tragedy unfolds, plunging guests into a deadly game where truth is the ultimate prize. As the past and present collide, they uncover clues and dark secrets that should’ve remained buried.
Dylan – Kian O’Callaghan
Ruby – Lily Barker
Grace – Daisy Pearson
Bea – Isabel Da Silva
Caleb – Ben Welshman
Evelyn – Rosie Hunt
Mia – Charlotte Bass
Owen – Aaron King
DEATH’S VEILED AGENDA
Written by Kian O’Callaghan and Abby Patrick
Drayton Arms Theatre
13 to 18 August 2024
