Agatha Christie is the queen of the ‘whodunit’ genre of writing, with some of her novels, such as The Mousetrap, And Then There Were None, adapted into brilliant stage shows. They are enduring classics that continue to have worldwide appeal.

At this year’s Fringe, hot from the West End in London, is the hilarious Murder, She Didn’t Write, that takes the ‘whodunit’ one step further — the audience gets to choose several key components of the show and then the cast of six improvise the entire murder mystery.

As we enter, we are greeted by a live pianist playing jazz classics, and a cast member sitting in a plush leather Chesterfield armchair to one side of the stage. Our host, detective and narrator, Agatha Crusty, introduces the proceedings for the night. With the assistance of the audience and Jerkins (you will have to attend to find out who Jerkins is!) we, the audience, select the event and the vital clue, then the talented six member ensemble makes up the entire show right in front of us. 

For opening night, we were treated to ‘The Case of The 15cm Diamond Tiara at The Barefoot Wine Crushing’. The incredible cast then created the entire story through improv, slipping in many of the other topic suggestions from the audience into their performance. At times it was clear they were throwing in story suggestions to try and trip up other cast members, but this added to the hysterics of the performance. 

The cast are skilled at thinking on their feet, they are masters at improv and the hour long performance vanishes in the blink of an eye. You could easily see this show multiple times due to the ever changing nature of it (and I am planning on returning myself).

Do yourself a favour this Fringe. Grab your magnifying glass and bring your best detective skills to a world-class improv show where anything could (and probably will!) happen.