Written by Huw Turnbull

Directed by Minnie Cross

Review by Gabriel Rogers

In Huw Turnbull’s Venison, directed by Minnie Cross, Bedlam Theatre transforms into an intimate dining room where audience members become unexpected dinner guests at a macabre murder mystery that would make Agatha Christie proud. Despite the winter chill, the show’s talented designers create an atmosphere of genuine warmth and homeliness, with the dining table serving as both the central set piece and a clever focal point for the unfolding drama. Turnbull subverts the familiar tropes of the genre, crafting a narrative that keeps its audience guessing until the final moments – proving that even the most traditional of theatrical forms can still serve up fresh surprises. 

Jerry, played by Thomas Catton, kicks off the evening’s proceedings, dancing onto stage blissfully unaware of the audience who bear witness to his literal take on ‘dance-like-no-one’s-watching.’ Catton’s brilliantly bizarre movements and Chaplin-style walk combine to formulate a character who is eventually referred to as “weird, creepy Jerry”. Catton does a wonderful job of keeping Jerry’s character funny and awkward whilst maintaining the veil of menace that he might, in fact, be a murderer. Unaware of the intrusion, Jerry is joined by Dan, played by Gordon Stackhouse, who mischievously helps himself to the wine so carefully arranged on the table.  What follows is an Only Fools and Horses-worthy sequence where a bewildered Jerry refills the glass, only for it to be drained again and again by Dan – a comedic dance that sets up the play’s blend of humour and dark playfulness. Stackhouse’s Dan is funny and cutting, very often at the heart of the play’s constantly crackling humour. Dan’s true-crime-obsessed girlfriend Max, played by Cross, and the levelheaded Bill, played by Ruth Maley, complete the dinner party. Where Max, the amateur sleuth, jumps immediately on the trail of their ‘missing’ friend Jane, Bill is slightly slower to cry bloody murder. Cross’ Max is hilariously obnoxious in her murder obsession, and she combines brilliantly with Stackhouse to create a comical tete-a-tete. Maley is similarly great in the role of Bill, side-eyeing her way through her friend’s ridiculousness.  

Cross’ direction is smart: they keep the pace of the play constantly moving while allowing moments of pause for comedy and suspense to build. Turnbull does a great job of writing a play that keeps the audience guessing as to who ‘the killer’ might be until the grisly end. Congratulations to all involved!   

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