Reviews
Inpress, February 2010
A Dinner to Die For – the magnificent period dining room of the wonderfully quaint Retreat Hotel in Abbotsford is the perfect setting for Simon Robinson’s A Dinner to Die For, a rollicking, interactive piece of theatre set in the 1920’s, that period of ever so stylish gay subversion. True to form as all good whodunits should be, but with the added dangerous thrill of interactivity between audience members and actors, this hilarious and over the top Carry On/ Are You Being Served style farce it is just way too much fun. Every member of the audience is assigned a character beforehand and thrown into the action immediately on entering. Watching the play becomes part of of the story, the audience mingling with the actors as everyone dines at the table, perfectly ornamented to match the period. Most of the audience embrace their roles by arriving frocked up, which really adds to the atmosphere. It’s even the butler from the play who takes our dinner orders.
It becomes an over the top celebration of homophobic jokes, puns and not inconsiderable ability to make fun of yourself. Time and time again the dialogue wittily utilises puns to create sexual innuendo – “who bonked the butler? He got bonked from behind” You get the picture.
The actors all make brilliant use of the small space provided, and are equipped with truckloads of musical talent. All eyes are on them and heads turn as they franticly and chaotically run, screaming, singing and laughing back and forth around the dining room. As well as the chaos ‘on stage’ audience members are kept on their feet by being asked to participate in various sing-alongs, and given secret tasks that are imperative to solving the crime. Improvisational skills are put to the test as accidents become indistinguishable from the script. All told, a bravura performance: light hearted, funny, hysterical, chaotic, muddled. Oh and the food was simply magnificent.
Lucie McMahon , Inpress, February 2010
One hundred per cent of previous guests responding to our guest survey said they would recommend A Dinner to Die For to friends and family.
Read recent article in Melbourne Leader, July 2010 – click here
Read guest reviews on The Age and more guest reviews on The Age .
Plus reviews by ArtsHub ( March 2010) The Australian Stage (April 2009), ArtsHub (April 2009), and by MCV
…and some great things guests have said after enjoying A Dinner to Die For;
“would recommend to others, especially for work/team bonding days…..much better than abseiling!!!!”
“Awesome experience and an extremely talented cast”
“I have not been able to stop talking about it today and will be in the forefront of my mind for many years to come – thank you”
“I would pay thoosands and thoosands of poonds to see this show”
“Murder! Mayhem! Merriment! and Mirth! A marvellous cast and excellent entertainment. We had a ball, fun & laughter all night long! Definitely recommended – get right into the characters and transport yourself to another era.”
“Just brilliant. I’ve never had a more entertaining dinner!”
“Absolutely brilliant, the acting was at a high level, exceeded my expectations”
“The whole experience was like being in an enjoyable time warp.Encore…”
“A really fun way to spend an evening, the entertainers made everyone feel involved”
“There are thousands and thousands of reasons to go. The intrigue is riotous.”
“This is pure gold – Agatha Christie with a delightfully humorous twist and lashings of double entendres!”
“we were part of “Ripping Yarns”, “Miss Marple” and “PG Wodehouse” combined….my 14 yr old daughter enjoyed it also…so it was a cross age event which is great.”
“I love champagne, dressing up, escapism, fun people and laughing – what more could you want from a night out.”
“Overall it was a lovely evening, the actors did a great job with their characters and setting the scene, the room was perfect for the scene with charm and intimacy and great ambeince. the food was generous and tasty”
“The ultimate opportunity to unleash your inner actor.”
“The entertainment was hilarious, at one point I nearly wet myself!”
“So much fun…I have taken ‘thusands and thusands’ into my everyday vocab!”
“I loved being the one that found the body and screamed, it’s like I’d been waiting my whole life to make that noise.”
“Spending an evening with this crazy, slightly hysterical and marvelously frocked-up and funny aristocracy is just plain great for the soul!’
“A truly fantastic night. I had no idea what I was walking into but it was fun from the very beginning and I would definitely do it again!”
“Good fun – enjoyed the evening – particularly loved Nanny Maude”
” When interactive theatre ‘jells’ it makes for a great night out and this show ticks the right boxes”
“Thanks for a great night… it was superb, extremely funny and the actor’s were amazing”
