SO, what is Murder, Margaret And Me about?
Very helpfully, the programme cover pronounces: "Agatha Christie turns sleuth to uncover a real life mystery in this comedy thriller", but obviously you need to know that rather earlier than when the programme is in your hand and amateur grammar sleuths will be thinking there should be a hyphen between 'real' and 'life'.
Murder, Margaret And Me had a previous life as a solo show at Harrogate Theatre but writer Philip Meeks always envisaged his work in an expanded form, and now it is hard to imagine it could ever have been presented any other way, given the personalities of the aforementioned Agatha Christie and the quarry of her sleuthing skills, the actress Margaret Rutherford, especially now that they are in the formidable acting hands of Nichola McAuliffe and Susie Blake respectively.
The "Me" of the title is "The Spinster" (York actress Andrina Carroll), in essence the spinster with the exact look that Christie had in mind for her discreet sleuth Miss Marple. The Spinster is the narrator, the scene setter, the back-seat driver of the piece, symbolically knitting as a mirror image of her bringing Mrs Christie and Miss Rutherford together with a meddling delight to match Shakespeare's Puck.
In the best possible sense, this is an old-fashioned piece of theatre, a return to the traditional stage apparatus of character-driven, witty dialogue, an intriguing story – or, rather, two intriguing stories – coupled with stellar actresses at the top of their game, nuanced detail and a slow-burning tempo.
Andrina Carroll as The Spinster in Murder, Margaret And Me
No multi-media accoutrements here; instead director Damian Cruden goes the other way, pointedly having the crew in workmen's brown coats moving the furniture almost pedantically, out of step with today's fashion of trying to minimise such manoeuvres. Some may even find it irritating, but it also emphasises that Miss Rutherford is at work on a film set, having been picked, against Mrs Christie's wishes, to play Miss Marple. "Christ," says Agatha curtly on hearing of the director's decision.
There is something deliciously mischievous about Meeks's writing but also deeply respectful of both the craft of writers and actors (he plays dame in pantomime each winter). "I wish actors didn't act," says an exasperated Agatha, after experiencing a Margaret Rutherford performance over afternoon tea. "A wayward walnut," says Miss Rutherford, as the nut flies into Agatha's cup of tea when she cuts the cake too dramatically.
Meeks's "respect" lies in his telling of the mysteries that played such a part in both protagonists' lives. It would be wrong to spill the beans here, but yes, murder does feature.
Not only McAuliffe, Blake and the supporting Carroll are terrific, but Damian Cruden is back to his best too, away from the broader style of last year's Sherlock Holmes show and the pantomime, his direction now full of subtlety and splendid judgement. The house design, by the way, is apparently a replica of Miss Marple's house in the Rutherford films; another detail that affirms Murder, Mystery And Meeks is a winning combination.
Good news too: after the York run, the show is to go on tour, with more details to follow.
Murder, Margaret And Me, York Theatre Royal, until March 4. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
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