Where does true crime end and the suspension of disbelief begin? This quirky and chaotic ode to geekdom – now in London after stints in Bristol, Manchester and Edinburgh – has a hard time striking the right balance in terms of how seriously it wants to take itself.
It obsesses over police procedure and investigation, while forgoing elements of the special interest which would prove inconvenient to the plot. A police offer warns the two true crime podcasters that she would be “very annoyed” if they interfere in her investigation, rather than, say, arrest them for obstruction or perverting the cause of justice. When Stella (Oklahoma’s Rebekah Hinds) broadcasts a false and misleading accusation to listeners, you can rest assured that she won’t be hit with a defamation lawsuit, when she really should be.
Now, sure, these things would usually be swept under the rather broad carpet that is ‘artistic licence’, but Jon Brittain’s book still wants to sprinkle in a number of serious observations around all things true crime, such as the aforementioned bobby (Di Sue Shaw, played by Henriette) making a sarky remark about “unjustly prosecuting people for things they haven’t done”, and Kathy (Newsies’ Bronté Barbé) at one point questioning how much their fascination with men killing women plays into and reinforces the patriarchy. Both interesting ideas on the surface but, ironically, they aren’t interrogated much beyond this.
Similarly, and despite what the name suggests, Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder isn’t quite a two-hander. While the premise is that the pair of them revisit the case of ‘The Hull Decapitator’ in their own investigation, as both this and Kathy landing a place on a uni course to study forensics threaten their friendship nurtured from childhood, the plot is very much played out from the perspective of Kathy, meaning the character development is lop-sided.
We know Kathy volunteers in a library, had a friend in school called Justin for which she clearly had some feelings and has anxiety, while our information on Stella is limited to her being dyspraxic, chastised by her sister for not paying rent and being in-between jobs, and having some self-esteem issues (per “The Approval of Strangers”, though this is a shared number and so not something unique to Stella’s character).
As such, as the cliché narrative arc of ‘friendship falls apart before being rebuilt’ unfolds, there isn’t much of a sense of jeopardy because Stella isn’t sufficiently established as a character – even after act two’s opener spends a good chunk of time explaining the origins of the podcast and their relationship, again through tales of Kathy sharing a true crime book with Stella on the school swings, or Kathy being consoled by Stella on a sofa as she goes through a rough patch. It’s especially gutting considering Hinds’ performance, which comes with stunning and electrifying vibratos. Her frank personality also serves as a brilliant comedic contrast to that of Barbé’s bubbly Kathy.
And it is one of the many contradictions and juxtapositions explored by co-directors Brittain and Fabian Aloise, with varying results. The aforementioned true crime vs factual dilemma and the conflicting personalities of Kathy and Stella are just two examples, but tonally, it is just as unpredictable. It lurches – with the help of swivel chairs – from the serious to the unserious; from the cabaret-style fanfare to more tender musical numbers, and unashamedly indulging in morbid, gallows humour, too (a corpse’s body drops back onto the metal table with one unceremonious – but hilarious – ‘thunk’ during one song).
Even when the songs are, for the most part, hyperbolic and on-the-nose (“If I Didn’t Have You (I Would Die)” is one, while “Murder Con” spends a couple of minutes pointing out to us that the podcasters are at a convention for true crime fans), and a handful of scenes – such as the lighting dimming as author Felicia Taylor (Hannah Jane Fox) wanders around the stage – are predictable moments before, the central whodunnit is, impressively, the opposite.
Where other crime shows (I’m reminded of the shambolic touring production of Looking Good Dead) give the game away with only introducing one additional, secondary character, there’s multiple colourful individuals to which were introduced in this musical, meaning there is a proper line-up to be suspicious about. Fox is ridiculously funny as she fully embraces the camp eccentricity of the Taylor family (not just Felicia, but her businesswoman sister Patricia and her anti-true crime investigator Horatio).
Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder is unbelievably goofy and energetic, and an enjoyable watch, but it’s also the kind of show which has your head spinning with its exaggerative presentation. Cecilia Carey’s set design features multiple stylish signage, while Peter Small’s lighting is, at times, disorientating. Indeed, a lot of the production as a whole is as puzzling as the case in question, with multiple tangents – like the map of strings on the wall upstage – to wrap your head around.
Even so, it is easy to see the show’s appeal, what with it tapping into fandom and the current explosion in true crime and podcasting, and so long as you can forgo some of these inconsistencies and embrace the silliness (unfortunately I found the former to be too much of a distraction) then this hearty musical may be well be your next obsession.
★★★
Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder is now playing at the Ambassadors Theatre until 14 September.
Signed, captioned and audio described performances are scheduled for 9, 17 and 23 July respectively.
Production Images: Pamela Raith.
Disclaimer: I was invited to watch ‘Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder’ for free in exchange for a review of the performance as a member of the press. I did not receive payment for this article and all opinions stated above are honest and my own.
Liam O'Dell 