The Murdér Express Part Deux: Jewel of the Empire (Review)
The year is 1937, a huge train stands before us in a moodily lit station intermittently emitting puffs of billowing smoke, the rusty station clock ticks on the wall, the whistle blows. We are at Pedley Street Station ready to take the Murdér Express to France, which explains the accent over the e. It’s not pronounced “murder” and there’s nothing to see here guys.
That being said, the train is also transporting the world’s most valuable diamond the Jewel of the Empire back to its owner’s estate. A serious crime ensues, the body count climbs and it is up to the detective, along with help from you and various friends (or foes?) to work out what’s happened, all whilst having a delicious four-course meal!
First things first, one of my favourite things about immersive theatre is that giddiness and anticipation when you first step into another world and it hit me surprisingly hard at Pedley Street Station. I thought the set design and attention to detail, down to the tickets, was spectacular. There’s a hint of exclusivity as we were led to a dedicated table for our party on the platform (which felt very first class indeed) to sip on eponymous Jewel of the Empire cocktails and people watch as characters did their introductory shenanigans. I didn’t realise I wanted to be in an Agatha Christie novel until I was and realised that this kind of days-gone-by luxury is immersive heaven.
As the scenario is set up and we are whisked inside the train, it doesn’t disappoint either. We had spacious, old fashioned booths aligned to their own ‘window’ (large screen) showing countryside or sea whistling past. I loved these windows, which also doubled up to show short films that supported and anchored the wider story. It’s a really fun and effective use of tech and you always had a great view even if it could kind of make you feel a bit floaty and weird as your brain tries to work out what is moving and what isn’t.
The menu is designed by Masterchef The Professionals 2017 finalist Louisa Ellis and is, in a word, wonderful. It comprises of four courses with two vegetarian pre-mains; a yuzu tomato palate cleanser and a deceptively-simple-sounding-but-very-impressive-eating starter of grilled leeks, black garlic ketchup and spiced dukkah. The main and dessert were real crowdpleasers; Melt in the mouth beef shin with perfectly crispy on the outside and buttery in the middle potato terrine followed by a beautifully plated chocolate, honeycomb and raspberry concoction. Sumptuous.
The cocktails also continued to be excellent. We recommend the Martinis.
Dinner is served as the shows goes on around us in the aisles and characters join us for a chat in our booths. It’s pretty full on and you’re sometimes trying to work out if you’re “allowed” to eat but for the most part there is a great balance between eating, watching and chatting both with characters and your group.
I couldn’t help but feel that the very earnest sense of lux and finery created by food and set feels slightly at odds with the overall tone of the characters and performance which is almost panto but with less shouting out. The characters are cartoony murder mystery tropes, the plot is pretty thin although with a solid mini twist at the end and the script is well endowed with... err... innuendo (that didn’t work - there you go it’s harder than it looks... YAY I DID ONE!).
What I can say is it was really fun, we loved chatting to the cast and there were lots of laughs throughout the evening. We particularly enjoyed the pastiche Poirot inspector’s ridiculous accent and sitting opposite a real life Frenchman listening to the pastiche Poirot inspector’s ridiculous accent then looking appalled and holding his head in his hands. Riotously funny.
Shakespeare it is not, but with a well-loved theme, great food and an easygoing irreverence, it’s a joyful and light-hearted evening of escapism with friends. And when there’s enough turmoil in real life, couldn’t that be exactly what we need?
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