Show reviewed: 17/03/26

Show rated: It wasn’t the butler, 5 stars…

Murder Village: An Improvised Whodunnit is a must see for those fans of Agatha Christie as an improvised romp through a 1950s crime novel comes to life. Coming off the stand-out successes of the previous two Adelaide Fringe Festivals with sell out crowds and critically acclaimed, this year the show is an Adelaide Fringe Fund recipient in 2026 which sees the production celebrate their 250th performance. Every show is a different audience experience, as before the show the crowd secretly votes to determine who lives, who dies and who is unmasked as the culprit.

Murder Village: An Improvised Whodunnit is much a genre show that plays on the tropes of the British country murder investigation literary tradition and whodunnit late night television shows. The actors fully inhabit their characters that are built on the stereotypes found living in the quintessential murder village, the two leads are a lady novelist investigator and the bumbling village police detective joined by a chorus of the townsfolk including the moral publican, the eccentric artist, the playboy botanist and the church altarboy/man.

The fact this is improvised entirely by the cast and still creates a coherent storyline is an impressive feat. The actors are able to create an entire village with nothing but an empty stage, each other and physical theatre. Improvisation is often maligned as the place that failed actors go because they cannot handle the rigours of theatre or the discipline of stand-up comedy. While some local productions indeed have been less than polished as fringe participation varies from amateur hour to the professional creatives, Murder Village is a superb show with that is worth seeing!