Middle Ground Theatre Company are renowned for their thirty five strong years of touring work but now audiences get to see behind the curtain in their brand new comedy ‘Dial M For Mayhem’. Artistic Director Michael Lunney and writing partner Margaret May Hobbs have drawn on actual memories and recollections of previous cast members who toured the classic 1950s thriller ‘Dial M For Murder’ to the Scottish Highlands in the early nineties.

The piece follows a play-within-a-play structure wherein a troupe of actors arrive at Loch Shindig Village Hall to find that they have only sold 19 tickets for their performance, the stormy weather is playing havoc with their get-in, there’s a scurrying pet rat on the loose and they await an AA man for assistance with their failing van.

You’d think from the description above and Middle Ground’s fantastic marketing material that you’re in for an evening of hysterical farce, similar to the famous ‘Noises Off’ or Mischief’s ‘Play That Goes Wrong’, but unfortunately this original piece is far from that.

It’s extremely wordy and frankly boring. The first act, as is understandably often the case in farce, is a lot of set up but you hope this will lead to a raucous and uproarious second half. Sadly, the pay offs never materialise here.

A fading script can sometimes be saved by masterful acting but the actor’s choices are questionable at the best of times. Disappointingly, there are no real character journeys and we simply don’t care enough about them. It’s also a rather unforgivable shame that lines can’t be heard from not even halfway back in the Stalls.

The strange choice of a projected moving sea backdrop makes the whole production feel very amateur and the clunky scene changes which seem to take an eternity add to the disappointment.

Credit to Lunney for clearly investing in a passion project which must be a nostalgic trip down memory lane for him and the company but I’m afraid it’s highly self-indulgent and doesn’t translate to the audience. With cheap laughs and dated humour, there’s little mayhem as the title suggests. Let’s hope Middle Ground return to their successful formulas they have won so much acclaim for previously.

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