Detective or killer? Live show reignites enduring fan theory

2 weeks ago 10

The New England municipality of Cabot Cove is the fictional abode of Jessica Fletcher, the enigma novelist portrayed by the precocious Angela Lansbury successful the CBS Universal transgression play Murder, She Wrote that ran from 1984 to 1996.

Cabot Cove is also, if the amusement is to beryllium believed, the execution superior of the world, with 60 killings successful the span of 12 years contempt a colonisation of lone 3500 people.

Angela Lansbury played amateur detective Jessica Fletcher connected Murder, She Wrote for 12 years.

In each occurrence of the programme Fletcher investigates a lawsuit that usually involves 1 of her 13 nieces and nephews – nary of whom is disturbed to spot her, adjacent though her quality inevitably heralds a mysterious death.

“It’s a fashionable instrumentality mentation that she killed them all,” says Brisbane-born theatre-maker Tim Benzie, who is bringing his deed UK amusement Solve-Along-a-Murder-She-Wrote to Australia this month. “Because she’s the 1 who’s ever there.”

Appropriately capable for a enigma fan, Benzie grew up successful Chandler (eh?), obsessed with Agatha Christie. He recalls watching Murder, She Wrote with his parents and trying to enactment retired the solutions during the commercialized breaks.

Relocating to London, helium conceived the “solve-along” format arsenic a sideline to his time occupation arsenic a civilian servant, and it premiered astatine drama and resistance venue The Royal Vauxhall Tavern successful 2018.

Tim Benzie hosts interactive screenings of campy TV transgression bid Murder, She Wrote.

Dressed unconvincingly arsenic Jessica Fletcher, Benzie volition present an occurrence and interrupt it to analyse, constituent retired mistakes, and behaviour games and quizzes. Audience members are fixed a motion similar an auction paddle to rise if they spot thing suspicious.

The archetypal show sold retired successful 2 hours. “The assemblage went nuts. I was successful the tiny dressing country and I could perceive them roaring. And I was like, I deliberation I’m onto thing here.”

Benzie travels the magnitude and breadth of the UK and Ireland with the show. Devotees oregon “Fangelas” guarantee repetition business, and helium has solve-alongs for 34 antithetic episodes – a spreadsheet ensures nary venue gets the aforesaid amusement twice.

The performer believes he’s portion of the inclination towards “cosy crime”, on with novelists similar Richard Osman (The Thursday Murder Club) and the Daniel Craig movies Knives Out and Glass Onion.

“The mentation is that cosy transgression is astir fashionable successful times of societal upheaval and societal trauma. Because it offers a singular, elemental motivation universe, successful which determination is 1 idiosyncratic who commits a transgression and they are arrested astatine the end. In a mode it helps america to halt death.”

Lansbury’s show is cardinal to the enduring entreaty of the TV show, Benzie says. “I deliberation there’s an tremendous magnitude of affection for her, she plays a truly large character, she’s benignant of similar everyone’s mum.”

But what of the angel of decease theory? After all, palmy real-life novelists Anne Perry and Liu Yongbiao were some convicted killers, and Lansbury herself was much associated with villainous characters successful films specified arsenic The Manchurian Candidate and Gaslight anterior to being formed arsenic the motherly sleuth. Could Jessica really person dunnit?

“I’m present to archer you, having watched each 264 episodes galore times, it’s not possible,” Benzie says. “She decidedly has alibis.”

Solve-Along-a-Murder-She-Wrote, featuring the episode Sing a Song of Murder, takes spot astatine Dendy Coorparoo, Tuesday, May 7, 7pm.