Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder Review

Bronté Barbé and Rebekah Hinds in Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder

Kathy and Stella is a triumph of British writing with a host of Stella(r) performances.

With Edinburgh Fringe coming to a close for another year, it's a thrill to see so many shows currently playing in the West End that have started with such humble beginnings at Fringe venues all around the country. From Operation Mincemeat, originally performed at Riverside Studios, to The Choir of Man and Six from Edinburgh Fringe, we have a feast of Great British shows to delight our appetites. And another that we can firmly add to that list is Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder!

Telling the story of two best friends, Kathy and Stella, who use their true crime podcast to assist in the solving of a murder, Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder! is a hilarious and heart-warming tale of friendship, feminism, and a fancying for the fatal.

The show feels intimate, friendly, and modest, you very quickly feel as though you are a real part of podcast. This is surely down to a number of factors - the small cast of six actors seamlessly transition through a multitude of characters between them, Cecilia Carey's set is small but innovative and welcoming with its ability to take us from garage to morgue to Murder Con in the blink of an eye, and Jon Brittain and Fabian Aloise's hilarious and intuitive direction that will have you laughing, gasping and welling up faster than you can say 'I did it.'

The real stars of the show though sit with Brittain and Matthew Floyd Jones's hilarious script and brilliantly original lyrics that are quick and razor-sharp funny, and the two title characters of Bronté Barbé as Kathy and Rebekah Hinds as Stella. The pair bring the crime-fighting duo to life with real craft and love for their characters and their art. Barbé is sensitive and warm as the anxious Kathy which balances perfectly with Hinds' howl-out-loud performance as the stubborn but loveably kind-hearted Stella.

Another stand-out performance came from podcast enthusiast and morgue worker Erica played by Imelda Warren-Green. Her comic timing and physical abilities had us in stitches; in fact if this was Kathy, Stella and Erica Solve a Murder then you'd hear no complaints from us.

The only gripe that we did have was that the almost sung-through score felt at times to be repetitive and intense with little troughs to match with the peaks of a jam packed narrative. Perhaps it was the very cramped Ambassadors Theatre but at times it felt as though we were being shouted at rather than sung with and I wonder if a variety in musical styles, with more numbers such as exceptionally funny ballad The Approval of Strangers, could've relieved this a bit.

In all, though, Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder! is a riot that leaves you rooting for two unlikely heroes in one of the most exciting murder mysteries to ever play at the Ambassador's Theatre (don't tell Ms Christie...) The show is running until 14th of September with tickets are available here.