“It could be any one of us” – The Little Theatre, Leicester

This blog post was written for East Midlands Theatre.

The latest offering from The Little Theatre has all the markings of a classic murder mystery – a spooky old house, a slightly off-the-wall cast of characters and a question: whodunnit? Written by Alan Ayckbourn, “It could be any one of us” introduces us to the dysfunctional Chalke family, a group of siblings who have recently lost their mother and are still squabbling over inheritance. When the ongoing dispute results in the death of one of the family, it seems like amateur sleuth Norris Honeywell (Paul Large) might finally have the opportunity he’s been looking for – an actual murder mystery to solve!

The play does a stellar job of introducing each character, giving us a healthy insight into family life in the Chalke household before the plot kicks in. Siblings Mortimer (Adam Jones), Jocelyn (Karen Gordon) and Brinton (David Stevens) are all failures in some regard – Mortimer is a failed musician, Jocelyn a failed writer and Brinton a failed artist – and as such there is an ongoing competition between them to prove who is the most successful (or the least unsuccessful). Jones excels at making Mortimer particularly dislikeable, throwing insults out left, right and centre whilst clutching on to a trophy that he won as a teenager. Stevens presents Brinton as fairly pathetic, a man in his 40s who remains fully reliant on his siblings for just about everything. Of the three, it is Jocelyn who the audience are most likely to connect with, and Gordon expertly toes the line between the caring, motherly figure that Jocelyn is expected to be, and her true selfish nature.

Completing the dysfunctional family set-up are Steph Allured as Jocelyn’s stroppy teenage daughter Amy, and Large as Jocelyn’s partner Norris. Allured and Gordon have a complicated relationship that is fascinating to watch, and whilst Allured can be a bit quick to snap at times, the mother-daughter dynamic comes to the fore in the second half as Amy takes certain steps to make sure her mother has an alibi.

Paul Large as Norris and Adam Jones as Mortimer

Ayckbourn is well-renowned for his excellent characters, and “It could be any one of us” is no exception. There are moments of fascinating character-study, including Amy’s over-eating and Brinton’s odd fascination with Mortimer’s ex-student. Unfortunately, these moments do not seem to play into the wider plot, and as a result, the first half can feel a little slow at times. Thankfully, the action is carried by the interesting characters on display, which are more than enough to hold your attention.

The plot begins to kick up a gear with the arrival of pet shop owner Wendy Windwood (Nikki Favell), who is seemingly destined to be the inheritor of the Chalke residence. A moment at the beginning of act two is a perfect example of ramping up the tension, with Favell and Large trapped in the house with bangs and crashes coming from the other rooms, and a doll’s head rolling down the stairs… For a murder mystery, the murder doesn’t actually occur until halfway through the second act, meaning that there are aspects to the actual solving of the murder that feel a little rushed. Alongside this, the characters are all seemingly blasé about the sudden death of their relative, the plot requiring them to get over their grief quickly in order to focus on working out “whodunnit”. Nonetheless, Large is on hand to provide a delightfully tongue-in-cheek Agatha Christie-style reveal in the closing moments of the play that is sure to raise laughs from the audience.

David Stevens as Brinton and Karen Gordon as Jocelyn

The set design from Tristan Knowles is a marvel, with several entrances and exits, a flight of stairs, a smoking fireplace and paintings adorning the walls. Changes in lighting (Jenny Harding and Martin Scott) help to highlight significant plot points, but are perhaps a little on the nose, whilst Stew Wale and Tim Neville bring some eerie sound design, underlining scenes with piano riffs that help to heighten the creepy atmosphere.

When Ayckbourn wrote this play in 1983, he included several possible endings, the idea being that the murderer would be determined on the night thanks to whichever card was drawn first in a game played during the opening scene. Whether the Little Theatre is following this precedent remains to be seen. As Director Mary Jones points out, the only way you can possibly know would be to return to watch the show for a second time, and see how the ending turns out. With a cast this talented, that would be no particular hardship – and the idea of potentially seeing a different outcome makes this a very tempting proposition. After all, it could be any one of them!

Tom Morley, January 2025