Why Not Murder Mother – Fringe 13

I finished off my Sunday Fringe viewing with Why Not Murder Mother. Why Not Murder Mother was my fifth show of the day. It’s the story of an aging film star who has been left in a coma after a botched attempt to kill her. Who could have attempted this killing? She is, after all, surrounded by her nearest and dearest?

The opening stage setting for Why Not Murder Moter — Opening Stage setting for Why Not Murder Mother

Why Not Murder Mother, Why Not Indeed

The show opens with a woman lying in a bed, while two other women sit reading in chairs beside her. We soon learn that the woman in the bed is Silvia Gail Bigelow, a one time movie star. Bigelow is in a coma, but has the power to hear what everyone around her is saying. She has been put in to this coma as a result of an attempted murder.

The two woman in the chairs are two of her daughters, dutifully attending to their mother? They are soon joined by a third daughter, that daughter’s fiancee, and Silvia’s husband. These then are the suspects.

Over the next sixty minutes we examine each character for that classic murder mystery triad: motive, means, and opportunity. This means probing each family member’s mind. Naturally this produces more than a few surprises for Silvia. Although, maybe she’s not as surprised as we think.

The show is well cast, with each cast member be as unlikeable, or at least hard to sympathize with, as the next. I found out I didn’t care enough about any of the family members or Silvia, for it to matter what happens to them. I mean family is family, but…

That doesn’t mean the show isn’t funny or entertaining. I’m sure many people will see their own families in the dynamics of the extended Bigelow clan. The laughs in the show come easily and continually. I just found the climax to be rather uninspired. If you like humour a little on the darker side, you should enjoy this show.