Midland Players’ The Perfect Murder – 23 September 2026, University Of Sheffield Drama Studio
Review by Paula Turner.
One of the interesting things about being a theatre reviewer is that it means you see productions you normally wouldn’t have gone to. Like ‘The Perfect Murder’, based on a story by Jeffrey Archer. I’ve never liked his books, although some of the short stories weren’t bad, so I wouldn’t otherwise have chosen to see a play based on something by him. But in this case that would have meant me missing out on a great evening. I should have trusted that anything put on by Midland Players would be a good production.
So, what’s the play about? It’s based on one of Archer’s short stories, known for their twisty plots, and centres on a man who thinks he’s committed a murder. Archer’s characters aren’t known for being either deep or sympathetic, but as the director Catherine Newsome says of her cast, ‘they’ve dug deep to build layered characters’, and central character John Hoskins is played superbly by Matt Beaumont-Voice who even manages to make us recognise and empathise with the character to some extent. Kate Spivey impresses as the ferociously competent Elizabeth Hoskins, desperate to shield the family’s respectability at any cost. And that is the driving theme behind the whole story – don’t get caught out.
No spoiler to tell you that the second half of the play is a courtroom scene – long, but worth it for the plot development! The trial is well acted by everyone, but particularly by Samantha JH Holden as the counsel for the defence and Chris Walker as the prosecution, both of whom are incisive, persuasive and give the audience a good feel of what it would be like to be on a murder jury. Alison Buchanan is measured and authoritative as the judge and Telyn Herbert as the medical examiner and Heather Sawrey as the police DI play their parts well on the stand under questioning – with Sawrey’s DI Simmonds being very different here from her persona at the police station earlier (with Corrie Houghton as police Sergeant Davies), highlighting the tensions in the scene.
In the court we also finally see Paul Menzies (played by Matt da Gama), who earlier we’ve only heard talked about. Is he an upright citizen, or actually guilty? The counsels drag back and forth on this, and da Gama’s performance of a man under pressure is well-judged.
The clues and red herrings drift in seamlessly. Even the innocent can be guilty of something – morally grey areas abound in the plot and the characters themselves. Supporting performances keep the questions coming – including Ruth Deller as the maid (why was she in the flat later than usual?) and Nick Rousseau as Hoskins’ colleague the smug Alan (who drives a BMW too… could he be the murderer?) The rest of the ensemble cast double up on minor roles and differentiate them well – I could only be sure when checking against the programme later.
Phil George’s set design brings the whole to life, with the Hoskins’ flat and DI Simmonds office rendered realistically and switched over between the two by skilful lighting changes, and the impressive court scene appearing alongside the flat in the second act. It’s not often you see set work this accomplished in an amateur production.
I’m not going to give spollers for the ending – as with The Mousetrap, the cast particularly request after the show that the audience doesn’t give it away! But I will say that if you like murder mysteries or courtroom dramas it’s worth grabbing a ticket, as you will be kept engaged through the whole evening. The play runs nightly until 26th September.
