Cluedo 2 Review - Devonshire Park Theatre Eastbourne

Let's be honest, basing a stage play on a board game is a slightly strange idea, but it seemed to work well back in 2022, when Cluedo first toured the country. Two years later, the sequel is now doing the rounds and is on at The Devonshire Park Theatre in Eastbourne until Saturday 2nd November 2024. 

The action of this comedy drama has been brought forward to 1968, and another group of colourfully-named characters make their way through the multiple rooms of an English manor house, attempting to discover who killed the owner, Mr Black (Liam Horrigan), here transformed into a rock star in the Ozzy Osbourne mould whose career is on the rocks and who is pinning his hopes for a resurgence on his latest track. Colonel Mustard (Jason Durr) is Black’s manager, his character clearly based on Colonel Tom Parker of Elvis fame. Mrs Peacock (Hannah Boyce) is Black’s acerbic and grasping wife, Miss Scarlett (Ellie Leach) his interior designer, Mrs White (Dawn Buckland) his capable and very watchable cook, Professor Plum (Edward Howells) his rather hapless assistant and Reverend Green (Gabriel Paul) his Vietnam-vet songwriter. All apparently have a motive for wanting Black dead. Also thrown into the mix is Wadsworth (Jack Bennett), an actor who has been hired to play a butler in a gin commercial, whom everyone treats as a butler, despite his numerous protestations that he is not one. Eventually, he just gives in and serves the drinks.

Visually, the show is attractive. The costumes are bright and cheerful, subtly matching the characters’ names without giving the impression that they are in fancy dress.

At the back of the stage, a giant Cluedo board and a model of Graveney Manor with light-up windows indicate where in the house the action is taking place, and scenery, furniture and props for each room are either flown in or carried in by the cast. The scene changes are slickly choreographed and certainly give the impression that we are moving through a large country house with numerous rooms and portrait-hung corridors, but they go on rather too long and risk overshadowing the already thin story and becoming a little tedious.