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'Move Over Moriarty' was entered into with some trepidation. On reading the program, one thing leapt out from the page: the production was both written and performed by Maggie Fox and Sue Ryding. Self-written plays should always be taken with a pinch of salt, with a tendency for actors to write characters that are more suited to themselves than for anybody else, or else write a play that is more a showcase of the writer's many talents (real or imagined). 'Move Over Moriarty' proved an exception to that rule. The audience entered to jingling, giggle-inducing music hall songs, immediately letting them know what sort of a night they were in for.
The story is that of Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr Watson, investigating the 'garibaldi biscuit affair', a mock murder mystery that masterfully injects humour into an institution that is so often deemed too sacred to ridicule over its own self-importance. Is there one of us who, perusing Arthur Conan Doyle's stories, has read of one of Holmes' marvellous deductions and, privately, been a little incredulous. Lip Service has bravely stated what has long been on many of our minds.
A flood of visual jokes, slapstick humour, and set changes, 'Move Over Moriarty' never failed to amuse. Light and enjoyable fun, it was refreshing to attend a play that is unashamedly low-brow, in which the audience could laugh truly and honestly, rather than because they felt they ought to.
Once the lights went down to mark the beginning of the show, the audience were immediately invited into the topsy-turvy world of the Lip Service theatre company and we at least were reluctant to leave.
Hannah Bunting and Hayley Bean
Sudbury Upper School
19 March 2010
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