Murder for Two

Joe Kinosian (book and music), Kellen Blair (book and lyrics)

Octagon Bolton and Stephen Joseph Theatre production

Bolton Octagon

June 5-27, 2026; 2hrs 20mins

Lucy Keirl and Tom Babbage milk the applause (in the nicest possible way) in Murder for Two. All pics: Tony Bartholomew

The Octagon has discovered the secret of making sense of theatre economics with Murder For Two, a two-hander co-produced by Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre: get one of the actors to play six roles.

Which is great if you are an Andrew Scott and can do Vanya in your sleep. But not quite so good if you are Lucy Keiri playing multiple roles in a spoof murder mystery.

Director Caroline Leslie is supposed to be the eyes and ears of the audience; in her notes she talks more about the setting of the play - in a 1950s radio studio - than about the way the show will interact with us. If she had, perhaps there would have been a recognition that it's important to hear the words of an actor and not just experience the manic energy.

Just like a radio show, the play features sound effects created by a team of stage-hands crinkling cellophane, breaking celery and such, to mimic sounds from the story. Suddenly the director's vision appears: we don’t need to hear the actors, just get the celery to do its stuff.

Lucy Keiri throws herself into the different roles, but to show multiple people on stage you need to have clear diction, so the words and not just the action can be appreciated by the audience.

Her partner, Tom Babbage, has it much easier; one part only, which he plays with consummate ease. But with so much energy on stage around him it must be easy to relax and let your other half get carried away.

Both actors have singing and piano playing in their portfolio, though again the surreal aspect of the lyrics sometimes fails to surface, because we must battle to hear them.

The play is a farce, something good directors use by minimising the obvious. In this one the obvious is at the core of the play, and the audience reacts to this - though it seems a little lazy to be getting laughs from a German psychiatrist saying, in a heavy, guttural accent "Wiener schnitzels und Volkswagen".

The actors use the audience interaction to great effect, indeed, one of the audience members was called upon for a key scene. Despite the fact that he upstaged the real cast, he should be featured every night, even though he was silent throughout...

More info and tickets here