Harking back to the Golden Age of Radio, Whodunnit Live Radio Plays is exactly as its name suggests. Presented in the classic tradition, this series of half hour plays feature a modest voice cast and a plethora of sound effects. The nostalgia even extended to the show’s appearance, with the cast decked out in swanky formal attire and a large ‘On The Air’ sign lit up above the stage.
The story performed on opening night was ‘The Interloper’ written by Jesse Griffin of The Four Noels and Wilson Dixon fame. Set on the Winterthorn estate, it was a tale of murdered pets, a naturist bastard son and party. There were plenty of twists and turns in the plot and it frequently got very silly. Plenty of pop culture references were scattered throughout the story for those able to recognise them.
Our Master of Ceremonies for the evening was “Adrian Calear”:comic who ran us through the format of the show and the audience contribution to the performance. He warmed up the crowd in his imitable style and took us through the obligatory hand clapping practice with a 1920s twist.
The script had been written with multiple endings, which we had a hand in deciding at the start of the show. Each performer read a line from the possible endings and the audience voted for their favourite using a corresponding coloured slip of paper. During this far from accurate voting system the cast got a little competitive, assessing their popularity and trying to sway the swinging voters.
With the ending sorted out, Adrian ran through our cues for various sound effects we were to perform during the show, prompted by a sign held aloft at the crucial moment. There were plenty of oral animal noises, some crowd chatter, wind and fireworks. To assist us with the more ambitious sounds we were each equipped with a paper bag and a sheet of paper which produced impressive results.
Surrounded by tables of various objects and musical instruments, Sound Effects Artist Brett Maverix was perched on a platform at the rear of the stage, ready to create audio magic. Along with the incidental music for the show, he had over sixty sound effects cues to contend with. It was a case of organised chaos, with Brett dashing about the stage to locate the relevant item to make his cue, often providing some slapstick entertainment for the crowd.
The cast comprised of “Justin Kennedy”:comic, “Tim Harris”:comic and Benne Harrison, who provided the voicing for multiple characters. With a large number of characters in the story the cast were often interacting with themselves, trying to maintain the correct voice with the appropriate lines leading to some delightfully hilarious moments. It was wonderful how they inhabited each character with not only a change in accent but with physical gesturing and facial expressions. While this physical performance wouldn’t translate to the radio audience, it certainly helped them with their characterisations and provided the in theatre crowd with additional amusement.
Whodunnit is a brilliant recreation of radio of yesteryear. In the capable hands of a talented cast and an audio genius, the audience were taken on a rollicking adventure that kept them enthralled. With its highly interactive nature it is a show best experienced live, but if you cannot make it there in the flesh the performances are available on Podcast at “Whodunnit”:http://assets.theartscentre.net.au/fulltilt/. The final show of the series will be broadcast live on 3RRR FM (102.7 MHz in Melbourne, also streaming online at “RRR”:http://www.rrr.org.au).
’Whodunnit’ runs nightly at 7:45pm until Saturday 28th of April. See the “Festival Website”:http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/season/2007/show/232/ for booking details.