Devised rambunctious murder mystery event, Corpse on the Side is Long Cloud Youth Theatre’s fundraiser for their Summer School project, which will provide the opportunity for 30 young actors to attend a ‘boot camp’ and culminate in two productions at Downstage Theatre. As such, it is a shame they played their opening night to a very small audience at Club Ivy; particularly unfortunate as the audience’s participation is an essential element of the show. 

The premise of the piece is Trevor and Mia’s two year anniversary party. As the audience arrive we are offered a free drink –which is delightful- and then talked to as ‘guests’ by circulating actors, as the characters, who are also guests, arrive.

Opening night and a very small house engendered a rather wide-eyed, nervy energy in the actors and much of this opening conversation was strained and stilted. Some audience members may prefer to be given some space to enjoy their dates and their drinks after the initial greeting, unless the actor actually has something of wit or substance to say.

Once the audience has played a few party games we get down to business and are introduced to each character in turn. Each young actor portrays a borderline cliché stock relation or friend of our central characters, Trev and Mia, and each is a potential suspect in our murder mystery.

This is our first experience of the play’s structural difficulties. Because we can see how many characters there are onstage for nearly the duration, there is a sense of inevitability about how much of the play is left; which characters must still have a surprise up their sleeve to make their presence necessary. While these surprises do add excitement, the twists that these characters provide could be more interesting if they were less clichéd.

Audience interaction is sporadically utilised throughout the play with police constable Nathan (Ricky Dey) making some particularly good choices of moments to include the audience so that we feel that we are aiding the investigation. It is odd, though, to at times be treated very much as ‘one of the guests’ and then all of a sudden be relegated to passive audience. 

All flaws aside, Corpse on the Side makes for an enjoyable evening. There is a lot of talent in this young cast (particular mention to the off-his-face without being over-the-top Ben Crawford as Trevor) and director Willem Wassenaar is very good at utilising their youth, rather than squashing it.

I very much look forward to their Downstage productions and to their continuing work as practitioners. Have a drink or two straight after work before you head in, and wear your dancing shoes! 
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