Review: The Detective's Demise (The Other Palace)

When I received a press release about this show, I was immediately interested as it was described as a murder mystery musical. With that and the fact it’s a new original show from Grownup Playhouse, I was very keen to see this preview performance.

Walking into the studio space at The Other Palace my initial thought was the stage contained the perfect set for a murder mystery, three panels suggested a large old house setting on first view, with a painting in a frame, an old clock and a bookshelf.  This was a very effective set design for the available space.

It did not take long after this show began for me to realise this is a polished piece of work.  The music (Tom Rolph and Michael Rincon) is brilliant in it – I did wonder if you can hear this anywhere else and I certainly would listen to it if I could.

The performance of the songs was superb, with amazing harmonies and notably a talented switching between main and backing vocals in a song when the cast are singing about motives – who, what, where and when being backing vocals and the main vocal rotating around this.

The movement around, and dancing on, what is quite a tiny stage was also fantastic, and you could see with more space it would be even more effective.

Ben Stone (Kit Colville) has a murder mystery party for his birthday and he himself is murdered. This would appear to be a disappointingly short role for any actor to play, but luckily a lot of the narrative later on involves flashbacks. Kit Colville was perfectly cast in this role. Aside from having a striking visual similarity to a young Patrick Swayze, his performance was stunning, with incredible vocals and fantastic comic timing.

But this is not a show with a leading man per se.  Every character gets their moment in the spotlight, even when they are lamenting the fact that they usually don’t in the case of Joe (Cameron Slade). The recurring theme of this character’s frustration was in parts funny but also incredibly endearing.  The fact that Cameron also looks so young, innocent and vulnerable is a casting win here. His comic timing was perfect.

Kate Stone, wife of Ben (Amy Langton-Smith) delivers one of the campest lines of the show which brought the audience to instant hysterics. No spoilers here, but definitely a moment.

Naomi Park played Lucy Stone, Ben’s step-sister. The costume choice here was perfect, as the dress this character wore included tassels that spun out when she was dancing, which was visually very appealing, and Naomi Park also has captivating stage presence. A duet by the step-siblings was not only a vocal treat but also very funny.

Molly Evans (Nora Shields) enters the birthday party late and, as a result, leads the murder investigation. A notable song performed by this character involves rapping which is incredibly fast and an interesting contrast to the rest of the music.

The Detective’s Demise has everything you want in a musical; good music, wonderful vocals, jokes, dancing, discussions about relationships (friendships, family and romantic), and talented, well-cast actors.

I could imagine this show in a larger space, which would suit it better.   The audience at this preview was diverse which suggests a wide appeal for a larger venue.

⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

The Detective’s Demise is heading to Edinburgh Fringe and tickets are available by clicking here.

If you would like to see my curtain call photographs from this and other shows, please visit my Instagram.

I was gifted a ticket for this show in exchange for an honest review.