Set at a dinner party in an undisclosed location in the 1930s, Guy Moneysworth, an eccentric millionaire has been shot dead and the prime suspect has the perfect alibi.  Farcing Cluedo, Agatha Christie, Murder She Wrote and any other point of reference that hadn’t been claimed by the Naked Gun Team we follow Miss Fanny Marbles, a hopeless self proclaimed genius of detection as she tries in vain to unravel the mystery of who killed the head of the estate and why.  As clues unravel and speculation is rife we follow also the chauvinistic exploits of a spoilt mummy’s boy and his French filly, the demise of a great silent movie star unable to work in the talkies because of a nervous twitch and the forbidden romance between cousins.

This production is the first festival outing of Afternoon Delight Theatre Company that boasts ‘a cast who are the future of Scottish acting talent’, and though this may be true, it is probably more accurate to state that the company is a group of students from Queen Margaret University College who have come together to take a bit of control over their creative output.  The resulting production is well written and full of dry wit and off the cuff remarks.

The production boasts a couple of memorable performances from the more fully developed characters with Cassandra Steele’s Fanny drawing many a guffaw from the older members of the audience and John McKinney’s Shuffles, a mute butler relying heavily on clowning techniques to successfully engage with the audience.

A 1930s set farce of the ‘whodunit’ genre is brave material for students launching themselves as Edinburgh’s next wave of creativity and though it seemed largely under rehearsed and some of the gags were as old as Methuselah himself, you can’t help be charmed by the enthusiasm, energy and excitement of these actors.

The Lot, Grassmarket (0131 225 9922)
Aug 6-27: 13:30 (1hr) £6.00 (£5.00)