Watermill theatre stages Richard Coles’s wartime village murder mystery
Watermill theatre has adapted Rev Richard Coles's 2022 crime novel "Murder Before Evensong" as a stage mystery centred on Canon Daniel Clement, a detecting rector investigating serial killings connected to events buried in the village's wartime past. The 1980s setting avoids modern surveillance obstacles while enabling connections to the second world war that drive the plot, with a planned church lavatory renovation serving as an unexpected narrative pivot. To manage the demands of staging a murder mystery with multiple suspects and victims on a small budget, director Paul Hart deploys seven actors across 16 roles, though such doubling occasionally pushes characterisation toward caricature.
Ian Hallard delivers an accomplished performance as the canon, avoiding theatrical cliché whilst exploring the character's complexity, and the production's strongest scenes are dialogues between Hallard and Jaz Singh Deol's Detective Sergeant Vanloo, which examine the common ground between priest and policeman as community ministers. The reviewer commends this thoughtfulness amidst the demands of the genre, noting the production runs at Watermill theatre, Newbury, until 14 November.
- Rev Coles's detecting rector mystery adapted for stage
- Seven actors tackle 16 roles in intimate space
- Ian Hallard's nuanced canon performance leads strong cast work
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Richard Coles is an English priest who wrote the crime novel Murder Before Evensong, published in 2022. The novel centres on Canon Daniel Clement, a detecting rector who investigates a series of murders in his village whilst uncovering secrets connected to the second world war. The story is set in the 1980s.
Watermill theatre in Newbury has adapted the novel as a stage production. The play brings to the stage the investigation of murders in a village, with a priest and detective uncovering secrets rooted in wartime history. The production runs until 14 November.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “Murder Before Evensong review – the Rev Richard Coles’s village mystery squeezes into cosy theatre”.