REVIEW BY STEVE MACKRELL: The Diamond Necklace, written and directed by Juliet Bagnall, delivered many surprises. When the curtain opened the audience was faced with 11 chairs in a semi-circle with four microphone stands set in front and then an announcer, Sue Wall introduced the evening’s proceedings. We were in a “radio studio” populated by 11 actors, all in evening dress and all with scripts in hand. Set to the side there was a sound effects table containing various objects and manned by two “crew”.  It means we see the actors holding their scripts (no difficulty in line-learning then!) and it challenged the audience members to use their imaginations to flesh out the background. The result was a very funny comedy-thriller with an intriguing, but wonderfully implausible plot, extremely fast moving action and all providing a really splendid spoof on the style of Paul Temple radio thrillers. 

First, there’s the straightforward telling of a rip-roaring story and then there are the laughs arising from the sound effects made by “technicians” Belita Charrington and Ann Baulch and their range of intriguing and surprising props. I especially liked the rope around the dustbin being tightened to create the illusion of a boat being moored (and stirring the water in the same dustbin to create river sounds). This was an original script written by Juliet Bagnall, who also directed the play, and who clearly demonstrates she has an ear for the dialogue of the radio thriller genre. This was well crafted and skilled writing. 

Our heroes were the intrepid husband and wife amateur detective team, played here adeptly by Robert Edenborough and Liz Ness. The Scotland Yard investigators were played by Brian Hulme and Nigel Stock who both gave an excellent parody of the rather slow thinking but methodical police approach. Cameo performances which stood out for me included Gill Robinson’s milliner, Sue Wall as our heroine’s best friend and indeed Steve Infield’s various roles.  Jilly Moss also gave a versatile performance in the part of Dorothy - a sort of gangster’s moll with a heart of gold. Good performances as well from a villainous Ian Royce and by Frank Brierley as his set-up cousin. Other players in this fine Claygate ensemble included Tanya de Vries and Kim Groom and I can only admire the energy put into this production by cast and crew alike.