Deadly Dungeon Murder Mystery
★★★☆☆ Spookily Good
The Edinburgh Dungeon (venue 52): Thurs 9-Sat 11; Thurs 16-Sat 18 Aug 2018
Review by Sarah Moyes
Spooky and frightening, Deadly Dungeon Murder Mystery is a fun interactive show at the Edinburgh Dungeon this Fringe.
If you’ve been to the Dungeon before, then some of the characters and rooms will be familiar, but Deadly Dungeon Murder Mystery allows you to experience the attraction in a new way as you join Bell’s Detective Agency to try to solve the shocking murder of Judge Maximillian Mental.
The Deadly Dungeon Murder Mystery cast get spooky. Pic: Edinburgh Dungeon.
Dr Joseph Bell, played by Gordon Houston, is there to lead you from room to room taking you back through Judge Mental’s final moments with the suspects – Torturer Thomas Turnbull (Chris Tomlinson), Miss Scarlett ‘Ruby’ Red (Hannah Bradley), John Howison the Cramond Killer (Duncan C Robertson), Lady Elizabeth Pittendale (Emily Parry), Bonnie and Brook Bean (Bethany Cunningham & Chelsea Moles).
As you’re taken around you’re given a pad and pen to take notes on who may have committed this horrible crime. While it’s a fun way to engage with the show, the low lighting makes it quite difficult to write anything down. It’s hard enough to make out the paper in front of you, let alone read any notes back at the end of the show as you vote on who you think the murderer is.
Each of the suspects gives an equally fearsome performance that will keep you looking over your shoulder as you move around the Dungeon. However, it’s cannibals Bonnie and Brook Bean that are particularly frightening as they scurry around the room leaving you not sure where they could pop up next.
There are some truly frightening moments in the show and it’s not one for the fainthearted or anyone who doesn’t like sitting on a gravestone in the dark. However, it’s the boat ride that generates the most panic and screams as you ride into the darkness to see which murderer awaits you at the next stop.
clever concept
The script can be a bit confusing at times and it’s hard to take in all the clues when there’s lots of other things going on. However, the concept is clever and it’s a smart way to engage the popular attraction with the Fringe. If the script was made just a little simpler, then it would become a much easier story to follow.
So, did we manage to solve the murder in the end? Well, that would be telling.
Deadly Dungeon Murder Mystery is fun and frightening show if you’re brave enough to go underground in the dark dungeons of Edinburgh.
Running time: 1 hour (no interval)
The Edinburgh Dungeon, 31 Market Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1DF (venue 52)
Thursday 9-Saturday 11; Thursday 16-Saturday 18 August 2018
Evenings: 7pm
Tickets from: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/deadly-dungeon-murder-mystery
Website – https://www.thedungeons.com/edinburgh
Facebook – @EdinburghDungeon
Twitter – @EdinDungeon
ENDS
