Murder at Ten Twenty
★★★☆☆ Accomplished
Saughtonhall United Reformed Church: Wed 26 – Sat 29 Nov 2025
Review by Hugh Simpson
Anyone not yet ready for Christmas-themed entertainment should get along to Saughtonhall URC before Saturday. Saughtonhall Drama Group’s production of Murder at Ten Twenty is a reassuringly old-fashioned whodunnit, performed with energy and warmth.
Ian McCutcheon’s play features Abel Martin – the semi-retired, wealthy owner of a chain of successful car dealerships – who has enlisted the services of private investigator Andrew Christy. Martin explains that he believes one of his children was responsible for the recent death of their mother and is also planning to kill him.
Scott Kerr (Christy) and Lynn Holmes (Det. Insp. West). Pic Jack Simpson.
Image-conscious Fanny, Rob (who runs the car business) and shady entrepreneur Roger are accordingly summoned to their father’s house, where home-loving Mo still lives. Unsurprisingly, the plan to unmask the killer does not proceed as planned, meaning that Detective Inspector West is called in.
Towards the end, one of the characters remarks ‘a bit convoluted, wasn’t it?’ which is a fair assessment of a play that stretches credulity considerably. It is also rather slow going, with far too many long periods of awkward exposition throughout – something that Morag Simpson’s ever-intelligent direction only partly overcomes.
Most unforgivably for a whodunnit, the eventual solution is prompted by a chance discovery of an item whose nature and significance is not revealed until the denouement, which does break all of the rules of the genre.
performed with gusto
It’s all good fun, however, and performed with gusto. Although there are problems with the play’s structure, it has a major plus point in that it uses one setting with economy, which shows off Jack Simpson’s impressive and solid set to good advantage.
Scott Kerr’s PI is instantly believable, and his assured performance helps smooth over the periods of info dump. John Webster gives the prickly Abel a similar plausibility, and the two of them, along with Simpson’s direction, help to give an awkward first scene a pleasing flow.
Alan Moonie (Rob), Fiona Young (Fanny), Hannah Kennedy (Mo), John Webster (Abel), Simon Petrie (Roger), Scott Kerr (Christy). Pic Jack Simpson.
There is the occasional hesitant moment thereafter, which can mostly be put down to first-night wrinkles, but does not help with the slow pace. The performances, however, are never less than committed.
The contrasting sisters of mousey Mo and society-loving Fanny are evoked to great effect by Hannah Kennedy and Fiona Young. Alan Moonie gives Rob a similarly three-dimensional quality, while Simon Petrie relishes the more light-hearted Roger.
For the play to work, the audience needs to be constantly unsure about the characters’ real motives and situations – is Rob really embezzling from the company? And is Roger’s South American vineyard a front for something more sinister? This open-endedness is one of the play’s strengths, and the cast help put it across very well.
laconic and efficient
Lynn Holmes, meanwhile, has presence as the laconic and efficient DI West. As is so often the case in the genre, the character has little individuality, but the carefully achieved ensemble feel of the production overcomes this, as it does many other problems.
There is just as much care in other elements on show, with Neza Alfazema’s lighting and sound being unfussy and effective. The traditional Saughtonhall welcome, complete with at-seat interval refreshments and raffle, is still thankfully in evidence, helping reinforce the feeling that this is community theatre as it really should be.
Running time 2 hours 25 minutes including one interval
Saughtonhall United Reformed Church; 87 Saughtonhall Drive, EH12 5TR
Wednesday 26 – Saturday 29 November 2025
Wed – Fri: 7.30pm; Matinee Sat: 2.30pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
SUC drama group website: www.saughtonhall.com
Facebook: @saughtonhalldramagroup
Lynn Holmes (Det. Insp. West), Scott Kerr (Christy), Hannah Kennedy (Mo), Simon Petrie (Roger), Fiona Young (Fanny) and Alan Moonie (Rob). Pic Jack Simpson.
ENDS
