You Don't Have A CLUE...DO You?

Amelia Lockyer and Lydia de Cates. Photographers Ellie Stiles and Michelle Williams

You Don't Have A CLUE...DO You? Performed by Arts Insight Youth Theatre at The Loft Theatre, Leamington Spa from Monday 29 July to Wednesday 31 July.

Review by Charles Essex.

Three separate casts, totalling over 60 young people, brought numerous colourful characters – with names reminiscent of Cluedo – into the plot to discover who killed Colonel Dijon-Moutarde in You don’t have a CLUE…DO you?  A real bonus of this production was that all the actors in the main speaking roles were miked up, which really helped massively and was a move that other youth theatres would benefit from.

Directed by Laura Berridge, who also wrote the play, used the multiple talents of Arts Insight Youth Theatre to keep the large audience engrossed in this whodunnit.  Ostensibly it was a classic plot with a large group assembled in one room, many of whom had motives to kill the colonel.  However, several features stood out that raised this performance above the usual murder mystery fare.

Interspersed with the action and dialogue between the characters were songs of various lengths, from brief snappy ditties to longer pieces.  Remarkably these sharp verses were written by 11-year-old Louis Lissman and 18-year-old cast member Daisy Faith Evans.  The pieces were predominantly sung by a trio of Tallulah Buckley, Aimee Powell and Daisy.  Their voices were wonderful and the power of their singing kept the audience engaged.

Set designer Alexa van Heerden cleverly used large painted mobile panels on rollers around the edge of the stage to put the action in different rooms.  Shelves with books; portraits on the wall; the cooker and kitchen utensils – by turning the screens the action quickly transferred from the library to the ballroom to the kitchen.  Will Hall and Jasmine Butler produced superb sound and lighting effects, respectively.

Laura’s script was clever with witty asides and comments from the characters that the audience clearly enjoyed.  That said, the script could have been trimmed as both acts were too long.  However, the cast and crew can feel as satisfied as the audience obviously were with this first-rate production.

For tickets go to:  https://lofttheatrecompany.com/