Go Back for Murder
★★★★☆ Convincing
Review by Hugh Simpson
Go Back for Murder, Edinburgh Theatre Arts’ first stab at Agatha Christie, is a well considered and very well performed affair. If it drags a little at times, it always convinces nonetheless.
Christie’s 1960 play (which was first performed at the King’s in Edinburgh) was adapted from her 1942 novel Five Little Pigs. Unlike the book, the play does not feature Poirot.
Georgie Purvis, Mags McPherson and Colin McPherson. in ETA’s Go Back for Murder. Pic Penny Cobham and Finlay Black.
The story, however, remains the same. Carla Lemarchant has been given a letter written years earlier by her mother Caroline Crale, who died in prison after being found guilty of the murder of her husband Amyas Crale.
The letter states that Caroline was innocent; Carla, with the aid of solicitor Justin Fogg, speaks to the five other people who were in the house at the time, attempting to reconstruct the events of the murder and discover the real culprit.
The resultant structure is a peculiar one. The first half consists mainly of static one-to-one interviews, while the second half is a more conventional country-house whodunnit. The characters are more developed and subtle than in many such stories, and the ruminations on the fallibility of memory are intriguing, but the play as a whole is somewhat slow-moving.
clipped tones
You can’t help feeling that, following recent trends, any professional production of the play in 2025, as well as relying on stunt casting, would be full of tricksy lighting and sudden intrusive music and other loud noises.
So it is refreshing to see director David McCallum go somewhat to the other extreme. The first act features several conversations between seated people. Despite the subject matter, these exchanges are polite, almost low-key, conducted in clipped tones at low volume, practically daring the audience to keep up.
Stuart Mitchell and Colin McPherson in ETA’s Go Back for Murder. Pic Penny Cobham and Finlay Black.
That this works as well as it does is down to McCallum’s careful direction and the performances. Georgie Purvis is tremendous as both Carla and her mother Caroline, managing to make the two characters connected but subtly different (complete with two distinct accents).
The series of conversations between Carla and the suspects are handled extremely well by Purvis and the five performers. Colin McPherson, as City type Philip Blake, suggests reserves of deep emotion behind a conventional facade. Stuart Mitchell, as Philip’s brother amateur chemist Meredith, is more emotional but equally believable.
simply excellent
Kerry Trewern is similarly credible as Amyas’s model and lover, now Lady Melksham. Kirsty Doull, as Caroline’s younger half-sister Angela, is particularly strong at showing the differences between the older version of her character and the one from sixteen years before – something that is achieved by all five of the suspects.
Mags McPherson, as Angela’s governess Miss Williams, is simply excellent. Everything about the character – the poise, the voice, the barely concealed disgust, is done beautifully.
Ruairidh Hastie and Georgie Purvis in ETA’s Go Back for Murder. Pic Penny Cobham and Finlay Black
Ruairaidh Hastie’s solicitor Justin is comically ineffectual rather than the stiff-upper-lip type he might be. This makes his taking on of much of the Poirot role in the second half appear rather odd, but his performance provides an interesting counterpoint to the more restrained characterisations.
Similar contrast is provided by Felix McLaughlin. His portrayal of exaggerated American Jeff Rogers seems out of place in the opening scene, appearing to come from a completely different play to everyone else, but he is much more successful as the revolting Amyas in the second half.
The over-the-top artist is definitely at home in the pacier, more expansive, more conventional second act, although his egotism is so convincingly portrayed you almost start to wonder if you really care who actually killed him. John McLinden’s clerk Turnball, meanwhile, is a very well pitched cameo.
well judged
Finlay Black’s set and Ian Cunningham’s sound and lighting design are as well judged as the direction. The transitions between scenes in the first half are a little protracted, making an already lengthy act even longer.
However, the end result is more considered and psychologically compelling than most productions of Agatha Christie.
Running time: Two hours and 25 minutes (including one interval)
St Ninian’s Hall, 40 Comely Bank, EH4 1AG
Tuesday 29 April – Saturday 3 May 2025
Mon – Fri at 7.30 pm; Sat at 1.00 pm and 6.00 pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
ETA website: www.edinburghtheatrearts.com/
Instagram: @edinburgh_theatre_arts
Facebook: @edinburghtheatrearts
Mags McPherson, Georgie Purvis, Kirsty Doull and Kerry Trewern in ETA’s Go Back for Murder. Pic Penny Cobham and Finlay Black
ENDS
