Butlers and Best Men, Comedy
Venue: St Andrew’s Hall
Next Performance: Friday 4 July 20:30
Review
By Nomfundo Mbatha
When a bachelor’s bash getaway turned out to be a murder mystery, everyone was left clueless about who could have been the murderer. When I walked in to the theatre to watch Butlers and Best Men, I did not expect to leave feeling like I had helped write the story along with the rest of the audience. At first, I will admit I was confused. The plot jumped between hilarious chaos and intense mystery, and the characters seemed to change in ways I did not expect. But once I realised that the audience was in control of what happened next, it all clicked into place.
This is not your typical murder mystery – this is live, shared storytelling at its most unpredictable.
Created and directed by Justin Wilkinson, this laugh-out-loud comedy/crime drama plays out like a choose-your-own-adventure novel on stage. “We don’t know what they are going to choose,” said Wilkinson. “The actors don’t know either. Every night is different.” And you could feel it – the excitement in the room was electric, the audience happy to be part of the play.
Audience members were invited to vote at key moments, and depending on the majority decision, the play would take a totally different direction. One of the audience members next to me whispered, “This is like Clue meets improv comedy, I am hooked!” That is exactly the vibe – unpredictable, funny, and wonderfully chaotic.
There were many hilarious moments from clever one-liners and awkward best-man mistakes to even a bit of drunken dancing. But all the fun was balanced with the suspense of trying to figure out who committed the murder. The actors looked like they were enjoying themselves just as much as we were. At times, they even seemed surprised by what would happen next.
Despite my initial confusion, I found myself drawn in deeper than I expected. It is rare to be part of a show that listens to you and changes with you. Butlers and Best Men is a wild ride that proves theatre does not have to be passive. It can be a party. A puzzle. A performance shaped by all of us.
