All I Really Need to Know I Learned by Being in a Bad Murder Mystery

This year and over the last couple of years in Adelaide, we have celebrated significant milestones for a number of amateur theatre companies. It is these sorts of companies that are the lifeblood of amateur theatre and the training ground for many prominent Australian actors. These companies also serve to provide pleasure, skill development, leisure, team building and collaboration skills, and entertainment for audiences and performers alike.  

Flinders University Performing Arts Society (FUPAS) is a collection of students of Flinders University who are passionate about creating and supporting opportunities for local performers, and it is this group of ‘arts aware’ performers who present this murder mystery. They are drawn from various disciplines including drama.

Published in 2016, All I Really Need to Know I Learned by Being in a Bad Murder Mystery by Werner Trieschmann follows in the tradition of All I Really Need to Know I Learned by Being in a Bad Play. 

Running for about 40 minutes, we meet a company of really bad actors in rehearsal. They are still ‘licking their wounds’ following the last theatrical debacle, and whilst the Director Lucas Tennant, has chosen the next play, a murder mystery, he is preoccupied in dealing with caffeine withdrawal symptoms and is ‘missing in action’ throughout the discussion and rehearsal period, and of course that makes matters worse.

In theatre there is a myth that the Stage Manager reviles all actors as undisciplined nuisances. In this show he does, and in large part, they are! Nick Mitchell, in this role, shows acting promise. He is measured, works effectively vocally, and is a believable Stage Manager.

Kyle McAuliffe, as the accent coach brought in to prop up the faltering cast and production, pays homage to Adelaide’s ‘Hans’, complete with Tyrolean hat and flamboyant clothing. In both of his roles, McAuliffe instils humour and fun to the story.

The script for All I Really Need to Know I Learned by Being in a Bad Murder Mystery and the play within the play is blatantly and unapologetically silly. It is a short piece that serves as useful training for aspiring actors. In this play, most of the nine actors play more than one role, giving them the chance to develop and portray different characters. Other than in the vocal coach role, there are unrealised opportunities for accents to create characterisation.

Nicole Walker delivers an impassioned speech about being thespians with confidence and vocal clarity and Kahrynn Annese seizes every opportunity to build the comedy in her role. Cordelia Ferguson works consistently using evocative facial expressions and a well-modulated voice to build and maintain the character of Flapjacks.

Most of the acting is raw and loud. Accents falter, changed and varied between and within roles, but the energy and enthusiasm of the cast is palpable. There is a significant amount of ‘deliver your lines and don’t bump into the furniture’- style acting, but experience and mentoring will polish this.

In real life, FUPAS is a company in its second year. FUPAS has funded and produced this show independently and created it by rehearsing intensively for just under two weeks. The group has also actively begun the process of learning how to become skilled thespians and should be encouraged to further hone their skills.

The appreciative 40-person audience appeared to be largely proud family and friends, and opportunities to perform for general public audiences will further support the development of this fledgling company.

Jude Hines