The Old Red Lion is hosting FreshFest 2026, a celebration of brand-new theatre from the 19th January – 8th February. If you aren’t sure what that is, then FeshFest, now in its fourth year, provides a platform for companies, playwrights & creatives to debut their new productions or scripts. This week, I was lucky enough to go and see A Fine Kettle of Fish.
At an unspecified university, five students are living together in one of the halls of residence. While each of them has their own story to tell, Poppy (Amrita Mangat) probably has the saddest. An orphan for many years, Poppy’s only connection to the past is the fish that swims in the bowl in her room. Everyone knows Poppy’s fish, and it’s almost like another member of the flat. Then one night, the flatmates go for a night out in town, and the next morning, Poppy’s fish is found floating on top of the water, dead to the world. In fact, not only is the fish dead with a capital D, but it is also obvious that its trip to the other side was not natural and in fact, it had been murdered. Poppy demands to know who the guilty person is and Jim (Ned Merrell) and Toni (Grace Carroll), channelling all the daytime TV detective skills they have picked up, vie with each other to lead the investigation. Could it be April (Tia Shivpuri), Max (Charles Harris), or constant visitor Russell (Jaden Hamilton), or maybe one of the investigators? Who knows, but as the rooms get searched, secrets come out and revelations flow from every corner.
Written by Charles Harris, this one-act who-dun-it was a lot of fun. Six individuals, one dead fish, and with a definite love of Cluedo, A Fine Kettle of Fish was enjoyable from its poignant start through to its wonderfully surprising end. A fine piece of writing that created a realistic world of disparate Uni students who, at the whim of the university accommodation team, are forced to live together. Thus, giving the audience an Agatha Christie-style ‘closed society’ type of murder mystery. In my day job, I work at a university and believe me, the six characters are all fairly standard of a range of uni students, complete with annoying habits, pretentious and, in some cases, need to be the centre of attention. I liked – but would have hated to live with – everyone and thought on the whole, they were quite well defined, without ever straying into stereotyping. The only exception was Russell, who I didn’t feel was quite fleshed out enough. Was he another student? Where did he actually live when not in the flat? What drew him to the flat every day? The actors were all great, and I really loved Grace Carroll’s portrayal of Toni, possibly the most complicated of the sextet.
Costumes play an important part in the story. Though without saying why, it took me a while to work out the significance of the characters’ costumes and their individual rooms. But once I did, I really enjoyed that ‘secret’ aspect of the show.
With a run-time of around an hour, A Fine Kettle of Fish was a really great show that kept me entertained and added a definite spark of life to an otherwise gloomy Monday evening. Hopefully, someone is even now working out how the show can go to somewhere like Edinburgh this year, where I expect it to be welcomed with open arms.
Review by Terry Eastham
April – Tia Shivpuri
Max – Charles Harris
Russell – Jaden Hamilton
Jim – Neo Merrell
Poppy – Amrita Mangat
Toni – Grace Carroll
Someone has killed Poppy’s pet fish and her only reminder of home. Five university flatmates must figure out who the killer is. With the case afoot, more outrageous reveals will test the bond between them. It turns out that one dead fish truly makes everyone’s living situation a whole lot worse.
A Fine Kettle of Fish brings wit sharper than any weapon in the style of Cluedo. But no colonels or professors here. Instead, six students, a beer filled kitchen, messy arguments and messier secrets.
A FINE KETTLE OF FISH
Old Red Lion Theatre
1 to 3 February 2026
