3.5/5 stars
Why Not Murder Mother begins the moment the theatre doors open, with a character lying comatose on a bed flanked by her oddly calm daughters. Audiences are drawn into the narrative as ghostly spectators as the woman awakes and requests their help in figuring out who among her relatives tried and failed to kill her.
The show is a whodunit mystery that playfully sidesteps narrative conventions, particularly with its living would-be murder victim.
The show stayed a little past its welcome, though. Several times, actors did not project their voices enough to be audible past the first row. This did affect the viewing experience because some truly excellent wordplay and jokes with a strong payoff did not land when part of the dialogue was lost in the stage’s deafeningly rough acoustics.
Overall, Why Not Murder Mother is a strong show, and what its soundscape lacks, it makes up with physical humour and cheeky generic subversions.
Showtimes and locations for Why Not Murder Mother are available through
winnipegfringe.com/
performer-detail.aspx?kw=
TBA+Productions.
