All That Glisters: Guildford Shakespeare Company take Murder Mystery to the 1980s
By: Gemma Allred
Tags: Lockdown, Zoom, Shakespeare, Murder Mystery, Immersive Theatre

Guildford Shakespeare Company (GSC) have been incredibly active over lockdown — their #AtHomeWithGSC initiative has seen them continue to showcase the fantastic work of their Young Company together with monologues and meet the maker sessions with the grown ups. They have also moved into the Zoom Theatre arena, with a ‘for Zoom’ adaptation of their production of The Wind in the Willows (presented for Zoom in collaboraton Jermyn Street and the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre) and the made-for-lockdown murder mystery The Shakespeare Solitaire (which Ben reviewed back in May). All That Glisters, directed by Francesca McInally and written by company member Eleanor Murton, is GSC’s follow-up ‘whodunnit’.

Promotional image taken from Guildford Shakespeare Company’s Twitter feed (Image credit: Guildford Shakespeare Company)

Solanio (Sarah Gobran) — our speakeasy host from Shakespeare Solitaire — has been transported from the 1920s to 1989 where she is now hosting a red carpet event in Monaco. The format is much the same as for Solitaire. The main room, run by Solanio, sees her banter with the audience — making small talk, mocking decor and questioning costume choices. In a testament to how quickly audiences have embraced this new normal, there were a number of returning audience members: ‘How are you doing? I haven’t seen you since the 1920s!’ was a common refrain. And these returning audience members had embraced the concept — with a number (myself included) dressing for the ‘80s. As we have noted, made for Zoom theatre has so far been very much set in the current moment. Socially distanced actors performing for a socially distanced audience — it seems somewhat impossible to completely move away from the present with the new normal of Zoom calls and split screen. GSC embraced the time smash of the 1920s, 1980s and 2020s: we are simultaneously in all three as we acknowledge lockdown and modern technology, that the 1920s was mere weeks ago, whilst enthusiastically enjoying stereotypically ’80s references.

The schtick is simple: we are attending the new photographic exhibition of Jacques Amoree (Daniel Abbott), whose famous patron, 96-year-old Leonato ‘Monty’ Montague, was recently found dead floating in the Monaco Marina. Monty left behind a 35-year-old widow, Portia St John Shrew (Natasha Rickman), estranged son Edmund Montague III (Matt Pinches) and family legal advisor, Angie Prince (Eli Murton), who are all suspects in his untimely death. With the audience split into groups for ‘breakout room’ interrogations of the characters, our job once again was to find out ‘whodunnit’. As with The Shakespeare Solitaire, Shakespearean references were less plot drivers than ‘easter eggs’, intertextual references placed to entertain the keen Bardophile — a name here, a strawberry handkerchief there. Where this production excelled though was with the tongue in cheek ’80s pop culture references. Jacques’s art was pure black and white Athena classics; Portia mourned Monty claiming him to be ‘the wind beneath my wings’ and wishing she could ‘turn back time’. In one of the set pieces, Jacques and Portia’s meeting was recounted by appropriating the lyrics of The Human League’s Don’t You Want Me, with the pair exchanging gender swapped lines: ‘I was working as a waiter in a cocktail bar when I met you…’. There was complete commitment to the 1980s references, even in the improvised interrogation — ‘Do you really want to hurt me?!’ exclaimed Jacques when asked an impertinent question.

The setting for GLC’s All That Glisters: Solanio’s 1989 cocktail bar ‘Salacious!’ (Image credit: Guildford Shakespeare Company)

I won’t reveal the plot twists and turns as that would spoil the fun, but a fun 90 minutes it was. An immersive theatre experience requires audience buy-in and, whilst the cast are universally strong, both Abbott’s Jacques and Rickman’s Portia are a particular joy with witty responses and repartee that left a number of our interviewing group lost for words while the rest of us giggled. Sadly, the current run has ended, but if new dates are added, I’d wholeheartedly recommend you crimp your hair, pour a babycham and channel your inner Magnum PI.

The Guildford Shakespeare Company’s production of All That Glisters has now ended. However, you can stay up to date on any future online performances on the company’s website and via their Twitter feed.