The Mystery Of Edwin Drood

The Mystery of Edwin Drood was Charles Dickens’ last, unfinished novel. How do you dramatise an unfinished novel? By making it into a musical, of course! Well, it worked with Oliver, so why not?

But first, the obligatory pre-theatre dinner. We are fast approaching the deadline when the Entertainment Book 2014/2015 runs out, so we are seeking to squeeze every ounce of value out of it before the 1 June deadline...and so, dinner in Muse On Allen, a place we’ve frequented before and liked.

The basis of the show is that it’s not a direct adaptation of what is, by all accounts, a somewhat bleak (some might say “Dickensian”) story; rather, it is set in a music hall, with characters playing characters from a Dickensian show - a play within a play. This allows The Chairman to act as MC, and also to narrate and fill in exposition as required to advance the plot. The production also borrows from the pantomime idea of having the leading man played by a woman. The action follows the adventures of young Edwin Drood in the lead-up to his marriage to Rosa Bud. On Christmas Eve there is a party at the house of Jasper, Edwin’s uncle. The following day, Edwin is nowhere to be found, but the cloak he borrowed from Jasper is found near the river, with bloodstains on it. At this point, The Chairman informs us that this is where Charles Dickens had the bad grace to suddenly die, leaving no notes or other indications as to whodunnit. The cast quickly summarises the state of play, reminding us of important points that may or may not be clues, and then finish off the first act by crowbarring in their signature tune, Off To The Races.

Act 2 begins 6 months later, and the mystery of what has happened to Edwin has still not been resolved. At this point, audience participation is required. First, though, the small matter of what has actually happened to him has to be resolved…is he alive or is he dead? This particular vote is put to the rest of the cast, who, for convoluted reasons, unanimously decide that he has been done away with, come to sticky end…is brown bread. The audience is then asked to pick a murderer, and also to resolve the love interest. The cast have rehearsed 30 different endings depending on the possible combinations of these two votes (although I suspect that a number of them are similar) and they performed the ending suited to our choices (we picked the butler, because it always turns out to be the butler that did it).  

The play is resolved satisfactorily, the dénouement is dénoued, and the cast give a last, rousing chorus before taking their bows; and with a shout of “to the bar!”, it’s all over.