A Killer Party – Stream.Theatre

A Killer Party is available to stream until 30 May 2021.

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

A group of performers are called together for a themed murder mystery party. But when the lights go out, and then the host is found face down in the soup, has one of the actors gone a little too Method?

That’s the premise behind comedy web series A Killer Party, a British adaptation of a musical conceived and performed at the start of lockdown in the US in 2020. A cast of artists perform their parts in their own homes and, through judicious use of neutral backgrounds, green screen, crafty editing and lashings of gung-ho optimism, the ensemble play as if all in the same venue.

And what an ensemble it is. Jason Manford plays the party’s host, West End performer-turned-Blackpool-pier-impresario Varthur McArthur, while the cast of suspects includes Cedric Neal, Debbie Kurup, Rachel Tucker, and comedic powerhouse Oscar Conlon-Morrey.

Anybody who’s enjoyed Conlon-Morrey’s anarchic videos during the last year will find themselves at home with the levels of broad comedy on show here. The verbal slapstick comes thick and fast, thanks to a high-octane book by Rachel Axler and Kait Kerrigan and an endearingly pitched performance by Emma Salvo as ingenue detective Justine Case, who travels from room to room interrogating the suspects (all conveniently self-isolating to avoid sharing alibis, and if it makes the editing substantially easier that’s just a plus).

With songs that combine contemporary pop style with the occasional nod to some musical theatre classics, Jason Howland’s music and Nathan Tysen’s lyrics keep up the sense of fun throughout. As Salvo careens from suspect to suspect, Axler and Kerrigan’s plotting keeps the murder mystery story easy to follow, even as we are invited to revel in the mania of Lucas Rush’s stage manager or the Brummie charms of Ashley Samuels’ chorus-member-turned-cater-waiter.

Cameos from Harriet Thorpe (as an older version of Detective Case, in whisky-fuelled nostalgia mode) and Ben Forster as himself keep the fun racing along, as does Benji Sperring’s quick-paced direction.

The pace is also helped by splitting up the story into nine short chapters, although sitting through the whole 90 minute experience in one go is a rewarding experience in itself.

The whole thing looks like the cast and crew had a blast putting it together, and that sense of enjoyment and fun shines from the screen. It may only be weeks until we might finally be allowed to return into physical theatres, but this lockdown murder mystery is a joyous piece of theatre to enjoy at home.

Scott Matthewman