A chimney full of straw orphans, Marie Antoinette’s croquet mallet, and a very bloody pastry: Murder Village returned to Brisbane Comedy Festival for more improvised murder and mystery, this time in the Brisbane Powerhouse Dome.
Now in its tenth year, beginning in Brisbane in 2016 before relocating to Melbourne, Murder Village is an improvised whodunnit in the style of Agatha Christie novels. In the hour prior to each show, audiences contribute ideas for the murder weapon and key clues via an online form, as well as vote for which of the characters should be murderer and victim. A rotating cast of talented Australian improvisers conjure characters until they are killed off, returning with new personas in the next show.
Hapless local Detective Inspector Owen Gullet (Murder Village producer David Massingham) is regularly assisted in his investigations by a cast of clever visiting friends – for the Brisbane Comedy Festival season, Lliam Amor returned as esteemed French detective Monsieur Aragon Pewter. Massingham, especially, kept the pace and trajectory of the show under control as tales and alibis spun wildly and hilariously outward.
From vicars, gravediggers, and housekeepers to altar boys (or, altar men), professors, diplomats, and a network of orphan snipes who report back to D.I. Gullet, Murder Village is populated by an eccentric and ever-changing cast of characters. At the show we attended on 24 April, the victim was French chef Norman De Plume (Rik Brown), murdered by the orphanage owner Gareth Quint-Worthington (crowd favourite Jason Geary) in the ballroom of unpopular socialite Posy Flutterby (Kathryn Tohill) following her poorly attended, Shakespeare-themed gala. Housekeeper Zenith Cain (Candice D’Arcy) was also under suspicion, but ultimately pronounced innocent.
Brown’s French chef was a walking stereotype prone to long, flowery greetings; Geary played his orphanage owner as a Dickensian villain but veered unexpectedly towards the supernatural as the show progressed; Tohill’s flippant, pompous socialite was shocked by the murder in her manor, and dismissive of D’Arcy’s exasperated, put-upon housekeeper. Lliam Amor’s Aragon Pewter is always a hilarious Poirot parody, and Massingham’s committed but clueless detective holds the patchwork of other characters together each time.
With more than 250 performances now under their belt, the skilled improvisers who populate Murder Village have an easy rapport with one another, transforming the audience suggestions into a sinuous series of scenes to unravel the mystery in bizarre and unexpected ways. Performed without props, the Murder Village ensemble nonetheless conjures multiple distinctive locations in the audience imagination, using mime and top-notch physical comedy.
The performances are accompanied by live music, played onstage by Mark Grimes, and dramatic lighting responding to the onstage action. Costuming, wigs, and distinctive makeup distinguish repeating characters, as do a few key props like Gullet’s notebook and Pewter’s pipe.
Wonderfully unhinged, hysterically entertaining, and consistently excellent, Murder Village adds a new spin to the long storytelling tradition of small-town murder mysteries. Different every time, it is worth seeing again and again.
Murder Village was performed at the Brisbane Powerhouse Dome from 22-24 April 2026
For further information, visit the Murder Village website
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