Review: Murder at Midnight (Churchill Theatre/UK Tour)

Review by Dan Ghigeanu

⭐️⭐️ 

As someone who grew up watching every comedy thriller I could, I walked into the Churchill Theatre in Bromley genuinely excited and intrigued for Murder at Midnight. With Torben Betts, writer of the deliciously dark Murder in the Dark, at the helm, expectations were understandably high. A combination of comedy, thriller, and classic murder mystery? Count me in.

Murder at Midnight promises a fun, twisty, atmospheric romp full of laughs, tension, and clever reveals. What actually unfolds onstage is well, not that. In fact, it’s hard to know quite where to begin with a production that seems determined to zig whenever it should zag and often ends up tripping over its own feet in the process.

The show opens with the familiar framework of a house mystery. A suspicious death, a mix of eccentric characters, and a superstition counting down to midnight. In theory, it’s a playground of potential, in practice, the story quickly becomes a tangle, confusing, messy, and frustratingly slow. The pacing is a major culprit. Several scenes stretch longer than necessary, dragging on without building tension or character depth. You find yourself waiting for something to happen, only for the moment to fizzle rather than ignite.

Comedy thrillers rely heavily on rhythm. Sharp dialogue, snappy delivery, and swift transitions. Here, that rhythm never quite materialises. Jokes land with a dull thud, the suspense evaporates before it has the chance to simmer, and tonal shifts feel abrupt rather than intentional. It’s as though the production can’t decide what it wants to be, veering one moment towards parody and the next towards earnest psychological drama. Torben Betts has proven in other works that they can craft tension with flair, and their writing often shines when balancing humour with unease, but Murder at Midnight feels undercooked. Scenes over-explain, characters under-react, and the script rarely offers the performers material they can really sink their teeth into. With a clearer narrative arc and braver structural choices, this could have been the tightly wound, wickedly funny thriller it wants to be. As it stands, it struggles to find its footing.

Where the production does succeed is in its visual world. Colin Falconer’s set design is one of the evening’s few standout elements. Without relying on moving parts or elaborate mechanical tricks, Falconer manages to create a house that feels layered, atmospheric, and full of secrets. The use of the stage’s depth gives the impression of a sprawling interior without overcrowding the space, and the attention to detail in the décor grounds the production even when the story loses its way. It’s a clever bit of design work that does more heavy lifting than it should.

Unfortunately, the direction doesn’t support this strong foundation. Philip Franks’ approach feels unfocused, as though he’s torn between making the show larger-than-life and grounding it in realism. The result is a staging that comes across as hesitant, unsure of its identity, tone, or pacing. Characters are placed awkwardly and moments that should be explosive land softly.

The cast do what they can with the material, and you can see the effort onstage, even when the results fall short. There is, however, one undisputed highlight: Iryna Poplavska as Lisa. From the moment she steps onstage, she exudes credibility and presence. There’s a confidence in her acting that instantly elevates scenes, making her character feel more dimensional and believable than the script necessarily allows. She brings subtlety where others are forced into caricature, and tension where the narrative struggles to find any. In a show that doesn’t quite know what it’s doing, she absolutely knows what she’s doing, and that grounding is invaluable.

It's a shame that the rest of the production can’t catch up. Chemistry between characters often feels forced, dramatic beats are softened by unclear direction, and several cast members seem trapped between playing authentic emotion and leaning into heightened comedy. Neither approach fully succeeds, largely because the script and staging don’t commit to either style with enough conviction. Even with all that said, Murder at Midnight isn’t without potential. The ingredients are there, talented performers, a solid concept, and a strong set, but potential alone isn’t enough to turn a middling production into a memorable night at the theatre. The show needs tightening, re-shaping, and a firmer stylistic vision, one that embraces either the glossy theatricality of a spoof or the sharp suspense of a thriller, rather than hovering indecisively in the middle. By the time the mystery is unravelled, and the clock finally strikes twelve, I was left not with gasps or applause, but with a lingering sense of what-could-have-been. That’s the real tragedy here, not the fictional murders, but the missed opportunity.

Murder at Midnight arrives with the promise of dark humour, suspense, and a good old-fashioned theatrical thrill, but it ultimately fails to deliver on any of those fronts. Despite clever set design and a standout performance from Iryna Poplavska, the production is undermined by muddled direction, sluggish pacing, and a script that never quite finds its groove. There is a great comedy thriller somewhere inside this concept, but this particular production isn’t it.

Murder at Midnight tours until 4th April 2026. Dates and tickets at https://www.murderplay.com/book-now 

Photos by Pamela Raith