The Murder at Haversham Manor is a play written by the fictional Susie H.K Brideswell and put on by the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society. It was Chris Bean's directorial debut.
Summary[]
After benefitting from a large and sudden inheritance, the inept and accident-prone Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society embark on producing an ambitious 1920s murder mystery. They are delighted that neither casting issues nor technical hitches currently stand in their way. However, disaster ensues and the cast start to crack under the pressure. Can they get the production back on track before the final curtain falls?
Full Plot[]
This plot summary was taken from Wikipedia by a very kind soul who wrote it all out, only to get it removed by a mod who deemed it unnecessary. Well, it's necessary here. This is the plot of The Play That Goes Wrong, had the play actually gone right.
Act 1[]
It is winter of 1922, on the evening of the engagement party between Charles Haversham and Florence Colleymore. A few hours into the party, Thomas Colleymore - Florence's brother - and Perkins - Charles' butler, head to the lounge to check on the groom to-be, only to find him dead by unknown causes. After debating with Perkins whether the death was from murder or from suicide, Thomas calls Inspector Carter (whose house is closer to the manor than the nearest police station, and will arrive quicker due to the snowstorm raging outside), then orders Perkins to lock all the doors and send all of the manor's occupants (Florence along with Cecil Haversham, Charles' brother) to the lounge.
With everyone assembled (aside from Arthur, the manor's gardener, who left hours prior with Winston, his guard dog), Cecil brings up the possibility of suicide, and notes Charles's last entry in his journal expressing paranoia that Florence did not love him. Moments later, Inspector Carter arrives. He orders Perkins and Thomas to bring the body to Charles's study for an initial inspection, leaving Cecil and Florence alone in the lounge.
As the inspector finds a note in Charles's coat pocket, Cecil assures Florence (who's worried that their affair will make them suspects for Charles' murder) that they can continue on as though nothing happened, eventually convincing her to marry him one day. She then asks him who he thinks killed Charles, to which he brings up the possibility of Thomas killing Charles, out of fear of losing his sister to this marriage. No sooner does Cecil bring this up, however, that Inspector Carter announces he is ready to begin individual interviews with each of the manor's occupants.
During the interviews, Perkins doesn't show any real motivation for wanting to kill Charles, noting that his master treated him more as a friend and confidant than as a butler for his 8 years of service. The inspector agrees, adding that Charles was once brought in as a consultant on a fraud case the inspector was working on. He has somewhat more luck when interviewing Florence and Cecil; having discovered their affair from the note he found on Charles, the inspector uses this (in addition to Cecil's resentment towards his brother for their father's perceived favoritism) as possible motivation for Florence and Cecil to kill Charles. While Florence in her interview reacts by running off hysterically, Cecil in his interview tells the Inspector what he told Florence about Thomas's possible motivation.
After sending Cecil off to bring Thomas in for questioning, the inspector finds Charles' ledger, containing a newly-written last will and testament. Just as he finds out who Charles's new heir is, Cecil brings in Thomas for his interview, but the inspector leaves to study the ledger's contents more thoroughly. Alone in the lounge, Cecil and Thomas discuss the latter's supposedly overjoyed feelings (despite his overprotective nature) towards Florence and Charles' marriage. Suddenly, Thomas' accountant, Mr. Fitzroy, calls to inform his client that nine thousand pounds were stolen from his private savings. Attempting to resume their earlier conversation, Cecil confesses to Thomas his affair with Florence. Enraged, Thomas instigates a sword fight. As Cecil suffers a severe wound, he and Thomas take their fight out of the room.
Gunshots can be heard throughout the house. Everyone (bar Cecil) re-assembles in the lounge, where the inspector suspects that the gunshots were the result of Cecil losing control, convincing everyone that Cecil is the killer. This theory is almost instantly disproven when Cecil barges in and flops down dead, with 3 gunshot wounds in his back. The conversation then turns to who the real killer could be; since Perkins already locked all of the doors to the manor, and Arthur already left hours prior, the only possible suspects remaining are the four people currently in the manor: the inspector, Florence, Perkins, and Thomas.
Act 2[]
The inspector leaves to investigate the library, eventually calling Thomas to meet him in the study, leaving Perkins and Florence alone in the lounge. In the study, the inspector presents the gun Thomas used to kill Cecil, presuming it was out of jealousy when he found out about his affair with Florence, adding his remark: "You shot Cecil Haversham in cold blood, and you know that wasn't the plan". Setting that bit of conversation aside, the inspector shows Thomas Charles' newly-written will, bringing special attention to the beneficiary: Charles was planning on leaving his money, belongings, and estate to Perkins. With this in mind, the two head off to confront the butler.
Meanwhile, Perkins hears a loud knock on the lounge door. Thinking it could be the killer, he hides Florence out of harm's way in a secret passage behind Charles' bookshelf. He opens the lounge door, only to find Arthur, the mansion's gardener, and his guard dog, Winston, both of whom were prevented from leaving the grounds by the raging snowstorm. Having learned from Perkins that Charles and Cecil were murdered, Arthur brings up the strange events he witnessed earlier that could be related: A mysterious figure stood outside the lounge window, and upon further investigation, Arthur and Winston found that the latch on the window was forced open. Beneath it was a cyanide-stained handkerchief with the initials 'F.C.'.
Believing the initials on the handkerchief to stand for Florence Colleymoore, Perkins calls her back into the lounge, just as Thomas and the inspector arrive. Arthur presents the handkerchief to Inspector Carter, who voices his intention to examine it for cyanide. Before Perkins can mention the initials, there's another telephone call for Thomas; Mr. Fitzroy has located another suspicious transaction from Thomas's account - a one way ticket to Dover, which Thomas claims to know nothing about. He leaves to examine his bank records. In the meantime, the others turn their suspicions to Florence, confronting her about the handkerchief. Florence reacts angrily, and the Inspector ensures her that a re-examination of the body is all the evidence they would need to clear her - or confirm their suspicions.
Inspector Carter, Thomas, and Perkins leave to go inspect the bodies. Florence and Arthur are left alone together in the lounge, where Florence immediately attempts to seduce Arthur. She accuses Arthur of harboring feelings towards her for all these years, to which he admits a certain amount of admiration. Finally, she convinces him to kiss her. The other men return and immediately berate the two of them, particularly Florence. Growing increasingly hysterical under the many accusations leveled against her, Florence finally faints.
After laying her down on the couch, Inspector Carter asks Arthur if he can identify Florence as the figure he saw underneath the window. Arthur disproves his theory: the figure he saw outside the window was that of a man. This allows Thomas and the inspector to bring their own theory to the group; that Perkins, as Charles' sole beneficiary, killed his master so that Haversham Manor would be his. Perkins denies this claim, and decides to tell everyone who the real murderer is: Inspector Carter. The butler explains that while Charles and the inspector worked on their fraud case, Charles found out that the inspector was the one embezzling the police's money, so the inspector killed him to prevent this knowledge from going public. Before the inspector can kill Perkins for the same reason, however, an obviously-alive Charles bursts in, aiming a shotgun at the inspector.
Charles explains that after their meeting at the police station, it was clear the inspector thought Charles was on to him, so Charles had his guard up for the last few months. At this point, the group starts to put two and two together: Inspector Frederick Carter (whose name matches the initials on the handkerchief) hid in the manor grounds after leaving out a glass of poisoned sherry for Charles, explaining the mysterious figure Arthur saw and how quickly he arrived on the grounds after Thomas called for him, despite the snowstorm raging outside. Charles then goes to send a telegram to the police station, locking the door behind him and trapping everyone inside the lounge.
With nowhere to go, Thomas and the inspector explain what really happened: between the two of them, Carter could withdraw money from the police's sundry accounts with Thomas moving it quickly to his private savings, so that the withdrawals couldn't be easily traced. To prevent Charles from going public with this knowledge, the inspector left out a glass of poisoned sherry for Charles, then, mistakenly believing he was dead, tried to pin it on Cecil and Florence because of their affair. After Thomas shot Cecil, however, Carter tried to pin the murder on Perkins instead after he found Charles' will.
As Charles explains, however, the inspector wasn't planning on sharing the money: instead, he planned to take the money with him and flee the county, not counting on Thomas' accountant catching on and telephoning him as soon as he did. Betrayed, Thomas shoots and kills the inspector just as the police arrive at the manor. Charles then sends Perkins and Florence to bring the police in, as he says he wants to speak to Thomas privately. During the conversation, Charles allows Thomas to drink some sherry before going to the police, but before he can leave, Charles asks him a follow-up question: "The glass of poisoned sherry the inspector left out for me - what do you suppose I did with it?" Thomas, horrified, succumbs to the effects of the poison and dies. Charles expresses his regrets to the audience, wishing that things could have ended differently.
Characters[]
- Chris Bean - Inspector Carter
- Robert Grove - Thomas Colleymoore
- Dennis Tyde - Perkins
- Sandra Wilkinson - Florence Colleymoore
- Max Bennett - Cecil Haversham/Arthur
- Jonathan Harris - Charles Haversham
- Annie Twilloil - Stage Manager
- Trevor Watson - Sound and Lighting Technianic
Trivia[]
- The plot of The Murder at Haversham Manor appears to have taken inspiration from Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap, as both plays feature a cast of suspects who are snowed in and an inspector who is proven to be the true murderer.