Now this is a musical.
I’ve been to a few musicals in London, and they’ve been great, but none compare to seeing The Mystery of Edwin Drood brought to life in the British tradition of pantomime and music hall.
The story is the last written by Charles Dickens before he died. Nothing is known about what happened to Edwin Drood after his mysterious disappearance from a Christmas Eve dinner party thrown by his opium loving jealous Uncle, and attended by a sinister newcomer from Ceylon, a bumbling reverend and a pure and innocent woman loved by all. Everyone had motive and all are suspicious.
But enough with the actual story – the excitement of this performance comes from it’s actors. Before the show they were mingling with the audience cracking jokes and handing out song sheets. After getting to know a few of the characters we launched into song singing classic show tunes like Champagne Charlie!
The play itself was led by an on stage Chairman who explains the plot and instigates the audience participation. Yes, audience participation. Considering that Dickens couldn’t be bothered to finish the story, we, the audience were determined next best to finish it. Through a few hoots and hollers and cheers we voted on the final plot choosing what happened to Mr. Drood, who killed him and some final twists of the play.
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