Review: LOCOMOTIVE FOR MURDER by Pinch Punch Canal Café Theatre 16th June

‘Enjoyable improv that never quite hits full steam’ ***

It’s a setup straight out of Agatha Christie. A period era train journey to God knows where, filled with colorful passengers who each hold incredibly varied backstories but have one thing in common: a plausible motive for the dastardly murder that’s just taken place onboard. Naturally it’s the job of the nosy investigator happening to be traveling alongside them all to sift through the many lies, half-truths and scraps of evidence to eventually find the culprit.

What’s different with this show is that practically all plot elements, from the train’s destination to the character’s names and histories, are produced on the spot using prompts from audiences. An interesting twist, but one that evidently lends itself far better to comedy, than to the traditional tension Whodunits are known for, thanks to the inevitable chaos resulting from essentially random bits of information.

For example, on my night in attendance the story took place on a train to Skegness and the character who the audience chose to accuse (who turned out to be innocent) was an insomniac heiress to the Starbucks coffee chain. A strange mix to be sure, and these were the tame bits; naturally the actors never know what they’re going to get but on the night they seemed to struggle to get prompts which they could weave into something coherent, when we were even ready to offer prompts that is.

We were a quiet audience on the night, but in an intimate pub setting this initial reticence is to be expected and the actors could have done more to butter us up and coax us out from ourselves. As it was they often succumbed to just asking an audience member point blank for something interesting. This naturally demolished the 4th wall, which further undermined the possibility of any narrative emerging, essentially leaving us to enjoy scattered moments of absurd comedy with an enjoyable sense of general anarchy as the actors did their best to bash something together.

In this they could have been helped by some basic sound effects, which were completely absent. Key moments, like the train actually setting off on its journey or braking suddenly due to an obstacle on the tracks desperately needed sound to flesh out the scene and let us know what was going on, and the inevitable moments of interrogation and accusation could have been significantly enhanced by the sounds and music you’d expect to accompany such moments.

But the cast on the night showed they have the chops for improv. Each actor succeeded in creating a distinct character, a significant part of which was selecting a prompt-matched costume presumably seconds before they actually came on stage. Each found distinct accents and affectations, as well as crisp characterizations so that the audience quickly got a feel for them. It’s a shame then that with this groundwork in place they failed to go the extra mile and link up to entertaining us by creating dynamics between each other. Oddly enough, it felt as if the pre-existing structure of the Whodunit limited the improv rather than enhanced it as there was often a rush to the pre-ordained dramatic moments just as the characters were finding their feet with one another. In a more open structure, perhaps they could have fleshed things out at their leisure.

Regardless the whole thing wrapped up well, coming in under an hour and managing not to lose its brisk energy in the process, provoking steady laughs that often came more from the live mishaps and obvious struggles of the performers rather than from any spontaneous and coherent narrative. Ultimately you can rest assured that Pinch Punch deliver enjoyable improv but at the same time never quite hit full steam.

LOCOMOTIVE FOR MURDER: The Improvised Whodunnit A murder mystery that the audience controls! At Canal Café Theatre 16th June 2023 - Playing at Edinburgh Fringe

Performed by Pinch Punch Improv

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/locomotive-for-murder-the-improvised-whodunnit

Reviewed by Harry Conway