Solve-Along-a-Murder-She-Wrote
Aug 4-10, 12-17, 19-24 - theSpace @ Symposium Hall - Amphitheatre Tim Benzie, in his blonde wig and grey tracksuit, returns for a second year at the Edinburgh Fringe with Solve Along a Murder She Wrote. Fresh off a huge UK and Ireland tour and as a regular staple at The Prince Charles Cinema in London, the show in its own right has built up a huge following. This experience offers fans of the iconic TV series Murder, She Wrote a chance to immerse themselves in the sleuthing world of Jessica Fletcher while actively participating in solving the crime. Jessica Fletcher is a mystery writer who finds herself consistently entangled in real-life murder investigations. With her keen intellect, Jessica unravels crimes in her small coastal town of Cabot Cove and beyond. For our event, we’re watching an episode from 1986 called 'Paint Me a Murder', where the birthday celebration for a renowned Mediterranean artist is cut short when the guest of honour winds up dead. Our host, Tim Benzie, is the perfect host, as he dresses up in a range of Fletcher’s outfits and wigs, including that grey jogging outfit seen in the memorable opening credits, and his knowledge of the show, which spanned twelve seasons and 250 plus episodes, is unrivalled. Benzie also uses his understanding of the era culturally and how that informs the casting and creative choices. Benzie’s insights help keep the audience engaged with the show and not just watching the episode unfold passively as if you were watching it on ITV3 in the mid-afternoon. Our fringe audience is encouraged to become amateur detectives like Fletcher, engaging their minds as we try to piece together the clues, motives, and suspects by using paddles with her face on them to raise when we see something suspicious from our rogue gallery of guest stars, and thanks to the heavy-handedness of the writing, there will be plenty of wrist action being undertaken. We regularly rank our suspects on the Suspiciousometer and test the theory that the most famous guest star in each episode is potentially the murderer we are looking for. The event is well-balanced with interactive elements and follows the mystery on the screen. Due to the huge pantheon of “Murder She Wrote” episodes, Tim Benzie mixes up the episodes for live shows, and I am already looking forward to booking up for a third year! 4/5 Lee Hutchison |