#Tweetingit – 4**** – Musical Murder, teamwork, hidden clues and running around public parks in doggy ears. All good clean London fun!
Its 7:30pm in London, I’m wearing dress shoes that pinch and my waistcoat is a tad to small…. or I’m too portly, jury’s out. I’m staring up at a large nineteenth-century novelty clock outside a pub…is the bull chasing a gent or is that the policeman? Another equally confused looking group of people round the corner at the double, I immediately switch to nonchalant mode, hands in pockets. My tuneless whistling falters slightly as they clock my extremely loud bow-tie, marking me as team leader. Behind me the rest of my team is arguing and animatedly pointing at the thing I’m working so hard to ignore, MI5 we are not.
Two minutes later we’re hustling down to the basement floor of a local business, a very angry man with a dodgy mullet and an equally unconvincing Boston accent demands our badge and gum…. I look round slowly, one of my team mates abruptly stops chewing. I’m having a great time… we are never going to find the murderer.
Far from being the plot of the world’s worst detective novel this was my experience of “Played to Death”, a murder mystery investigation put on by “A Door in the Wall”. Starting at the Square Pig pub in Holborn, teams are induced to investigate the murder of prodigal composer Aaron Eastring. Each team is provided with a booklet providing a summary of the case, the suspects and the various clues scattered around local area. The most obviously talented is also provided with the bow-tie of leadership. The introduction is provided by a number of talented actors playing various characters and after a few pints we were set loose on Holborn to find the evidence to solve Eastring’s grisly demise. Working in tandem with local businesses the clues were in shops, on bus timetables and in theatre “what’s on?” guides. Each clue required a mix of problem solving, acting, treasure hunting and a measure of brisk power -walking.
The whole show was well put together, the acting was solid, the clues were interesting and 
varied and the mystery was sufficiently mysterious to keep everyone interested. We trotted around London decoding riddles, meeting and cross-examining characters and running around a park with dog-ears on confusing tourists. There were a few bumps in the road, some of the clues were a little opaquely worded and, as only one team was allowed to see each character at any one time we did sit waiting for about twenty minutes, which ended up losing us a clue as the time ran out.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed myself, we looked ridiculous, we ran about in uncomfortable shoes, we obviously worried the locals and we only just solved the crime. It was a great night out.
Company – A Door in The Wall
Running until 19th June
More information and tickets: https://www.adoorinawall.com/event/tickets/played-to-death
Reviewer – John McCloy
Playhouse Pickings 