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An overworked plot and shoddy stagecraft make this murder mystery incomprehensible, if sometimes entertaining.Summary
Rating
Ok
The idea of a murder mystery musical is enticing. First, the genre alliterates, and second, it brings to mind comic, campy Agatha Christie-inspired fun. Unfortunately, this isn’t the route that Dear Diary takes. Instead, the production takes a deadly serious angle where humour is inadvertent at best.
The core story is a simple one. Drama student Kirsty (Abigail Hebdon) is found shot, and her classmates are all suspects. Luckily, she was an avid diarist who wrote down everything that happened to her in real-time; her final entry has been ripped out, and apparently holds the key to her killer; presumably, she used her last breaths to write down her assailant’s name.
As her fellow students sit in custody, we zoom between present day, the aftermath of the death and the events leading up to it. Structurally it’s not as confusing as it sounds, but the plot embellishments and details often make it incoherent.
The production has been in development for a long time and during workshops the cast and audiences were invited to build on the cookie-cutter characters, their backstories and their motivations. It’s clear that a lot of thought has been put into their individual stories, but unfortunately this doesn’t come across in the final product. Characterisation and plot points are often nonsensical or underexplained; we learn that Kirsty and Danny (Ryan J. Edwards) have a forbidden love, the scene’s song is even titled ‘Forbidden Love’, but exactly why their affections for one another goes against ‘social norms’ is never explained. The play frames Kirsty as an outsider, but this is only indicated through repeated references to the fact that she doesn’t drink. Another presented as an ‘outsider’ is Stefan (Adonis Kat), a religious type who walks around holding a cross and a large book with, puzzlingly, ‘JESUS’ emblazoned on its cover. Whether a Bible was unavailable, or this was thought to have more impact is unclear.
Despite attempts to appear mature in its themes, there’s a juvenile quality to Dear Diary. Comments on religion are frequent but surface level, akin to something a child rebelling against their parents would devise. Similarly, it often feels as though swear words have been sprinkled in to give it an edge, but the concentration of this language comes and goes so much that it feels forced. References to sex evoke conversations from teen TV dramas, and the sudden introduction of a sexual assault and rape plotline in the second act is never developed beyond being a ‘shock’ moment. Suicide, abuse, religious cults, the competitive nature of theatre, family rifts, pushy parents, unrequited love, at first glance, it could be a summary of a Riverdale season, songs included. Similarly to this much-maligned show, the denouement, once we get to it, is anticlimactic and leaves more questions than answers.
Watching Dear Diary is an odd experience and will surely bring back memories of secondary school drama classes for many. Large Styrofoam prison walls are hauled around the stage in blackouts that last far too long, actors stand a few feet out of their lighting and lines are flubbed. For the first half the working light at the back of the stage is glaringly bright whenever the door is opened and it’s often difficult to hear speech despite the small space and the cast being mic’d. There are some interesting lighting choices made throughout (using a folding light inside a book is a nice effect), but again, it feels immature; from the set to the lighting to the dialogue, the piece really feels like a school production.
That being said, the enthusiasm of the cast and crew is difficult to fault. They put their all into their performances and have clearly done a lot of work fleshing out their characters and trying to create something with depth and impact. It’s a shame that this work doesn’t come to fruition in the final product.
Written and directed by: Adonis Kat
Co-produced and co-directed by: Samantha May
Music composition by: Dylan Owen, Matthew May, Tunna Beatz
Musical direction by: Brett Wellcome
Light and sound by: Simone Vastola
Set design by: Juan Alcaide González
Dear Diary plays at the Courtyard Theatre until 13 April. Further information and tickets available here.
