THE MURDÉR EXPRESS PART DEUX JEWEL OF THE EMPIRE

There are few dinner theatre options in London – nowadays, in fact, the only options which spring to mind are the Faulty Towers dining experience, Proud Cabaret, and the table seat and dining option at the Kit Kat Club. Well, Funicular Productions are changing that with their new production The Murdér Express Part Deux Jewel of the Empire.

When you arrive at Pedley Street train station, you are immediately transported back in time from the moment the doors open. With 1930s décor, costumes, and of course the old-fashioned train, you are immersed within the era instantaneously. The plot centres around a very valuable diamond which has been discovered in India by archaeologist Dr Errol Earhart. His discovery is now being transported to the aptly named French city Murdér.

Before boarding the train, some time is spent on the platform as everyone checks in. Here you can browse the drinks menu by scanning a QR code on your table. The cocktail menu is comprehensive, and the drinks are well-made, inventive, (there is a tequila old fashioned!) and delicious. Before boarding, guests are encouraged to purchase the newspaper from the bar for £2.50. This isn’t necessary, and although there is a clue placed within the paper, your experience will not be hindered by not making this purchase. My plus one noticed a few grammar and spelling errors within the paper too.

The train is not real, unfortunately, although sound effects are implemented to make the setting more realistic. There are also screens on which videos are played to give the effect that you are moving. However, most of the video design is cartoonish, and therefore the effects of this are somewhat limited.

Although I’m not here to review food, it is part of the overall experience, so I do feel it requires mentioning. With a menu devised by Masterchef Professional Finalist Louisa Ellis, the four-course meal is fresh and varied. The starter and main could have used more seasoning, and the main course portions were not uniform in size – some people appeared to have more food than others. Also, the palate cleanser was different this evening from what was advertised and written on the menu on the table. Whilst this isn’t a big problem, it would have been nice to have this communicated to us and to know what we are eating instead. Dessert is an absolute highlight!

The plot is very funny and the performers do a great job at keeping you guessing throughout. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t make a good detective as I failed to correctly identify the murderer. You can tell the performers are enjoying themselves throughout, and there were even some moments in which they broke character to laugh at each other. The characters are caricatures; there is no depth to them here, but that is part of the fun, like being in an episode of Agatha Christie’s Poirot. The actors mingle with the audience during the show, coming to sit at your table and chatting with you about your predictions of the culprit. Clare Sloane plays the stuck-up Vera Valentine exceptionally well. Her disgust at having to sit with us and not in first class is palpable. George Wills is charismatic as our conductor Tomothy Timmins, and his chemistry with Miss Marie (Georgia Corrigan) is intense to watch in such proximity.

Prices begin at £69.50, which is in line with other dining experiences such as Faulty Towers, and this price does include your four-course meal.

This is a show which doesn’t take itself seriously, and neither should you. The plot may be slightly thin on the ground, but the overall experience is a whole lot of fun – you’ll be laughing from start to finish. It’s camp, hilarious, and a great evening out!

The Murdér Express Part Deux is booking until November 2023 – find tickets and info here!

{🎟 AD – PR invite – Tickets were gifted in exchange for an honest review}

A PISSEDMAS CAROL – REVIEW – LEICESTER SQUARE
by Amy Rye
The infamous Sh!t Faced Showtime are back in London with a festive edition, they have taken Dickens’ classic and put a drunken spin on it. The formula is the same as other iterations of the Shi!t Faced shows, one member of the cast has been boozing, and this time it is John Milton who plays Scrooge. Before the show, half a bottle of Jim Beam, some wine, and beer have been consumed in the previous 4 hours. The rest of the cast, try to keep the show on track, also aided by James Murfitt as the compere, Charles Dickens. The … More A PISSEDMAS CAROL – REVIEW – LEICESTER SQUARE
A CHRISTMAS CAROL – REVIEW – ALEXANDRA PALACE
by Ellie Preston
Spine-tingling yet heart-warming, Mark Gatiss’s retelling of A Christmas Carol truly encapsulates the haunting atmosphere of a Victorian ghost story, balanced out with enough humour so as to capture the festive season. Led by Keith Allen as Scrooge, with Peter Forbes as Marley, this show is perfect for Christmas viewing. The set design by Paul Wills is instantly captivating, containing stacks of metal cabinets towering over the theatre, moveable by the cast to allow space for other central props like doors, beds and tables. In addition to this, the puppetry design by Matthew Forbes is incredibly clever, adding creepy elements to the show such … More A CHRISTMAS CAROL – REVIEW – ALEXANDRA PALACE
A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503
by Tom Carrao
The title of this winner of Theatre 503’s 2023 International Playwriting Award by Roxy Cook may seem like the set-up to a joke, but the narrative that unspools is instead an affectionate, gently barbed and at base quite sobering portrait of three ordinary souls (and one restless feline) adrift in modern Moscow. There is much affable, satirical back-and-forth commentary on the accepted myths & stereotypes of the Russian spirit & soul. Beset by the indignities of age, opportunism, graft, fatigue, the characters orbit one another, doomed to play out their roles in an unjust, predatory and saturnine universe. The play opens … More A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503
PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATRE
by Amy Rye
Peter Pan Goes Wrong first premiered in London at the Pleasance Theatre in 2013, and earlier this year the show made its Broadway debut. Now the production is back in the West End for the Christmas season. Following on from The Play That Goes Wrong, in this production, J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is staged by the fictitious Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society and goes awry, disastrously so. The meta-comedy is filled with slapstick comedy, sometimes the humour may be predictable and silly, but it’s universally funny throughout – there is something for everyone here, and the laughs come thick and fast … More PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATRE
GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE
by George Rennie
Drawing heavily from the classic canon of the British supernatural, HighTide’s trio of contemporary Gothic narratives uses traditional storytelling formats to address contemporary themes. Directed by Elayce Ismail, reverent musical interludes accompany tales of apparitions and nighttime conjurings that speak of women from the East of England. Unfortunately, the effect is less chilling and more lightweight, with conventional structures, predictable plot twists and an over-reliance on external forces to drive narrative shoring up some of the less relatable aspects of the genre. Nicola Werenowska’s The Beach House, perhaps the cleanest of the three tales, tells of a mother and daughter’s … More GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE