The Jazz Club Murder @ Oran Mor

The sweet sound of the trumpet fills the air as a good old fashioned 'whodunnit' takes to the Òran Mór stage in James Runcie’s The Jazz Club Murder. 

Our hero is Canon Sidney Chambers. Cue mirror ball glinting in a darkened room. He’s indulging his love of jazz at a bar in Soho when American singer Gloria Dee’s set is interrupted by cries of murder. When a cigarette girl is found strangled, the police are called, but it’s up to the preacher man to solve this case. 

Directed by Marilyn Imrie, this jazz-meets-murder-mystery is purely plot driven and given the short running time it’s not particularly complex. The Canon (Paul Dodds) methodically interviews a number of suspects before delving into their past. A chance comment leads to a eureka moment which then results in a slightly anticlimactic finish. 

The play really comes alive with the arrival of Amanda Kendall (Frances Thorburn), friend and confidante of the Canon. While their conversations forward the plot, it’s the first relationship to really develop and both actors shine in these moments as a private side to our hero is revealed - plus Amanda is just really funny. 

The world-weary Gloria Dee and the witty, upper-class Amanda are both played by Thorburn and this dual role makes for entertaining exits and entrances and an amusing jealousy between the two characters. All the while the jazz smoulders away in the background as the Canon goes about solving this crime in this rather fun four-hander. [Susannah Radford]