The final show in what has been a strong season from Ensemble Theatre welcomes us to the opening night of Midnight Murder at Hamlington Hall, the latest production staged by the Middling Cove Players.

It may also be the amateur company’s last. Among the audience tonight is the local major and a committee who seem keen to pull the plug on the only funding the Players can rely on.

So, a touch more stressful than usual for leading lady Phillipa (played by Eloise Snape), company stalwart Barney (Jamie Oxenbould), stage manager Karen (Ariadne Sgouros) and Shane (Sam O’Sullivan), who is director, writer and star of the show.

If that seems a small cast for a drawing room thriller, you’d be right: everyone else involved has phoned in sick. But of course, the show must go on. After some quick adjustments and relying on some on-the-fly doubling of roles, the curtain rises.

What follows is, of course, a complete shambles – and a very entertaining one.

Eloise Snape, Jamie Oxenbould, Ariadne Sgouros and Sam O’Sullivan. Photo © Prudence Upton

Co-writers Oxenbould and director Mark Kilmurry’s script warmly spoof the never-say-die spirit of the am-dram scene...