Murder, She Read
Created by Brenden Rowe and Valerie Cardinal, Directed by Gabriella Gadsby
Produced by OwlySprocket Productions
Review by Alexa MacKie
60 min / PG / Play, Comedy, Drama, Mystery / Violence, Abrupt loud noise
It’s 1908 at Wyndergate Manor, and a murder has taken place.
Mystery novel-obsessed maid Helena Woods takes it upon herself to solve the crime alongside the Manor’s butler, Spencer Preston. Murder, She Read is two-person show that follows the characters through a murder mystery and farcical feat with undeniable magnetism.
Paris Healey and Richard Kaulbars in Murder, She Read. Photo by Gabriella Gadsby.
As Woods, it’s a privilege to watch Paris Healey transcend various stages of emotion. She is first determined to pinpoint the murderer with cleverness in her stare, then dejected with nervous laughs when her theories fall through.
At one moment, Healey slips into the suspects’ mannerisms with effortless ease: a haughty accent when impersonating one suspect then a snarky drawl when impersonating another. But it’s most enjoyable, and Healey shines best, when the spotlight narrows in as she paces and shares her thoughts about the crime.
Paris Healey in Murder, She Read. Photo by Valerie Cardinal.
Richard Kaulbars portraying Preston spearheads most of the show’s slapstick moments. Donning a suave black suit and bowtie, he struts with sureness which hilariously contrasts his naive disbelief that anyone he knows in the Manor could be capable of murder. Kaulbars’s unserious disposition plays well off of Healey’s steady persistence.
Paris Healey in Murder, She Read. Photo by Valerie Cardinal.
These emotional moments are heightened by somber piano and string builds, with lighting cues filling the stage with blues or reds to reflect the characters’ inner sentiments.
Murder, She Read bridges comedy and murder and is at its strongest when highlighting the humorousness of the Woods/Preston duo. And when all of the answers circle back and fall into place, it’s with a stylish vivacity down from the intricately-design period sets to the zesty performances.
Murder, She Read is playing at La Nouvelle Scène — Studio A from June 14–23. Tickets are $14 plus service fees at the Fringe box office (3rd floor, Arts Court, 2 Daly Avenue), and at the two satellite box offices (LabO in the Ottawa Art Gallery and La Nouvelle Scene). 5 and 10 Show Passes are also available. Visit the Ottawa Fringe Festival’s website for the show’s schedule and check out their online schedule here.
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