ALL I want for Christmas is … a good murder mystery! And if that comes with a generous dose of laughter all the better.

Strange creatures that we are, there is apparently nothing we enjoy more than dead bodies piling up in a splendid country house, crumbling castle or remote island hideaway. Agatha Christie was the arch-mistress of the cosy murder mystery and New Old Friends have drawn inspiration from one of her greatest whodunnits* for their 2025 festive frolic, Crimes Against Christmas.

This has all the company’s familiar hallmarks – fabulously fast costume (and character) changes, a lot of dashing in and out of numerous doors, a plot so convoluted you are tied in nonsensical knots and a few clever clues that nibble at your consciousness but never fully unravel until the classic denouement.

The premise for the story is the unexpected appearance of a hitherto unknown Faberge Bauble (assuming that everyone already knows about Faberge Eggs). A mysterious German visits art expert sleuth Pip Artridge and commissions her – with a £50,000 fee – to go to a mysterious island owned by a Duke with an unpronounceable name, where she must discover who intends to steal the fabulously valuable trinket. She will be one of a select group invited for a three-day Christmas party in the Duke’s rambling mansion.

The full list of characters numbers around 15, and is led by Kirsty Cox, a regular with the brilliant Natural Theatre street performers, as the often baffled but never outwitted Pip. Dan Gaisford has huge fun as a wildly diverse bunch, including an Irish priest and Lord McMickle, the Duke’s sex-starved son-in-law.

The maid Missy, Princess Michelle (adored partner of the rapper Turtle) and the very much not sex-starved Lady McMickle are all played by Heather Westwell. And Andrew McGillan has some incredibly quick costume changes as the boatman, the butler, the Duke, a crooked Italian art dealer and Turtle.

Crimes Against Christmas, directed by writer and company founder Feargus Woods Dunlop, is the first fully professional Christmas show at Frome’s Merlin Theatre. The Merlin has been celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a string of landmark events and productions – including the memorable Come From Away (see separate story about the Rose Bowl Awards). The sheer delicious silly delights of New Old Friends’ show rounds off the year in style.

* And Then There Were None

FC

Photographs by Lloyd Evans