Good old-fashioned who-dunnit on in Kenilworth

The Unexpected Guest, Priory Theatre, Kenilworth, on until Saturday July 2.

SHAKESPEARE put it best: “What a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive”.

This convoluted tale, well told, concerns the untimely death of one Richard Warwick (a wonderfully still Richard Collett), not entirely mourned, chiefly because of his habit of taking pot shots at, not only rabbits and cats, but also the odd charity collector. There’s the usual plethora of suspects plus red herrings and double bluffs aplenty – as the unexpected guest – Michael Starkwedder (Tim Hughes) arrives on a dark and misty night to discover Laura Warwick, wife of the deceased, with a smoking gun in her hand.

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Their cooked-up plan to frame the father of a toddler killed by Richard Warwick in a drink driving accident causes a snowball of trouble. The rest of the household put in their twopenny worth including ‘the old retainer’, Benny, Miss Bennett (Ruth Jones) who lures the ’retarded’ half-brother, Jan, (Ben Wellicome) to confess within earshot of the police.

The play is creaking with age (from 1958) with a few un-PC moments that caused a ripple in the audience. The dowager Mrs Warwick (Mary Beddow) hints that she was responsible with Inspector Thomas (Graham Shuvinton) and his side kick (James McNulty) serving as gullible police.

I’ve forgotten to mention, Laura Warwick’s paramour Major Julian Farrar (David Eardley) where both have assumed the other committed the murder and are covering for them. The twist we’re expecting is a brilliant one – and well set up. I have to confess that I’m not entirely sure ‘who dunnit’ but I know it wasn’t me.

Jane Howard

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