Review: Murder On The Dancefloor a totally radical throwback

Bare Naked Theatre Productions thoroughly entertained a sold-out crowd at The Rose Hotel on Friday night with the interactive murder-mystery dinner theatre show Murder On The Dancefloor. After selling-out both shows of its Busselton Fringe engagement, the company transformed the Rose into the setting for the whodunit, the newly opened Club 85. Guests were welcomed in by “door b......” Jane Frances and Renee Chapple, both providing laughs and immersing the crowd in the 80s setting before we even got to our seats. They expertly managed the crowd, taking clues and leading them through a highly enthusiastic air-guitar competition, making sure competitors quite literally kept their shirts on. Karen Gifford portrayed a sympathetic and frazzled owner pulled in various directions while Michael Little was perfect as your stereotypical 80s poindexter — Dungeons and Dragons references and all. Rhys Hughes had the hardest job of the evening portraying three widely different characters — an Italian chef, a So-Cal DJ and a no-nonsense Australian cop — and did so marvellously. Suze McGill was fabulous as the femme fatale Claire, glamorously flirting with the entire cast and a fair few guests as well. Courtney Cooper was stellar as rock ‘n’ roll valley girl Sam, every eye-roll and “whatever” delivered to 80s perfection. The crowd favourite was easily Rob Stuart as the amusingly named Tom Dickenarry — a not so subtle Russian KGB operative with an over-the-top Russian accent making even the most mundane lines get a laugh. The cast managed to keep the sold-out audience engaged and even with a lack of microphones, those sitting at the back of the venue were still able to hear every line. Credit must be given to director Michelle Durrant for the incredibly well-produced production especially for someone directing their first murder-mystery, and their first show since 2017. The only downside to the production was at no fault of the cast. There were various clues that were missed throughout the night because the venue staff had forgotten to hand them out among their work. These lack of physical clues, however, did not leave the audience guessing as to whodunit with the majority of the mystery lying in character motivations and dialogue cues. The production was led by a stellar cast and director managing to transform a dining hall with no microphones into a thoroughly entertaining theatre experience.