Murder, Music and Mayhem: Inside The Pleasures of Fanny

Murder, music, mayhem and a rather brilliantly named amateur dramatics group called The SLAGs collide in The Pleasures of Fanny, a new immersive murder mystery musical coming to Brick Lane Music Hall this October. We caught up with co-writer and performer Shannon Rewcroft to find out how a forgotten old script inspired this cheeky new show, what audiences can expect from a night of food, farce and foul play – and why they should trust absolutely nobody.

The Pleasures of Fanny is part musical comedy, part murder mystery and part traditional music hall. Where on earth did the idea come from? (and, be honest: how early in the writing process did you realise you'd created a show that could legitimately be called The Pleasures of Fanny?)

A play called The Pleasures of Fanny was actually performed at Brick Lane many years ago. Nobody knows who wrote it, there was simply an old paper script found covered in handwritten notes! It had a very short run and was loosely based on Fanny Hill. Zara Kattan, Brick Lane’s Artistic Director, wanted to revisit it as the theatre expands its offering, and we started chatting about how we could reimagine it. I suggested making it a play within a play, with a murder mystery unfolding around the production. Brick Lane is such a stunning, unique venue that I’d always thought something interactive and immersive felt perfect.

I then asked Jack to write it with me. He’s a brilliant, experienced writer, whereas this is my first outing as one, so it’s been great fun creating it together. We wanted something that feels completely at home at Brick Lane while also offering audiences something a little different - cheeky, silly, knowingly theatrical and, hopefully, with enough twists to keep everyone guessing.

We’ve developed and reimagined the play, using that original idea as our foundation, adding music and comedy elements, and, let’s just say, actually getting through The Pleasures of Fanny proves rather difficult for our company!

Writing a murder mystery must be quite a balancing act. You need to plant enough clues for the audience to have a chance of solving it, without making the culprit obvious. How did you and Jack approach that?

It’s been really fun because we’ve been able to plant clues absolutely everywhere, not just within the script… We started by creating little backstories for each character, looking at their relationships and what their possible motives might be, and then peppered those throughout the script. There are things happening before the show even starts, clues hidden around the theatre and little details that might suddenly become important later. Of course, there are also plenty of red herrings! We’ve been lucky enough to have read-throughs with the actors before rehearsals start, which has helped us look at that balance, and I’m sure we’ll find even more opportunities once we’re actually on our feet. We want people to genuinely have a chance of working it out, but equally we don’t want it solved in the first ten minutes. Jack and I know the truth, obviously, but I’m not entirely sure I trust him either…

The show takes inspiration from the notorious 18th-century novel Fanny Hill. How much does the original book influence what audiences will actually see on stage?

Within the play-within-a-play, we follow Fanny (who I’ll be playing, its going to be a busy time) a young Northern girl who travels to London to seek her fortune. We’ve moved the story into the 1940s, partly because it gives us such a brilliant era for music, costumes and a bit of dressing up!

There are elements of the original story we follow, but we’ve taken plenty of theatrical licence along the way. We loved the history of Fanny Hill and the fact it was such a notoriously banned book, so audiences can certainly expect some tongue-in-cheek innuendo and silliness. But you absolutely don’t need to know the novel, our Fanny has very much taken on a life of her own!

And, of course, audiences aren’t only watching Fanny’s story, they’re watching the SLAGs attempt to tell it. As their production starts to unravel, the original plot becomes increasingly difficult to get through!

At the centre of the story are the wonderfully named Silvertown Lovies Amateur Group – or ‘The SLAGs’. What can you tell us about them and the world you've created?

The SLAGs are essentially the most dramatic and chaotic amateur dramatic group you’ve ever encountered! We’ve had real fun creating them. There are enormous egos, questionable casting decisions, rivalries, people who take themselves far too seriously and others who haven’t learnt a single line. They absolutely believe they’re creating theatrical history. Whether anyone else agrees is another matter!

But it’s their backstage dramas that suddenly take centre stage when a murder occurs and the whole production is thrown into even more chaos, if you can believe that. From then on, the audience must scrutinise the SLAGs they’ve met, work out who’s telling the truth, who might have a motive and, ultimately, decide whodunnit.

This isn't a conventional night at the theatre; there's food, music, murder, audience participation and even the chance to dress up. What can audiences expect from the experience when they arrive at Brick Lane Music Hall?

We really want the experience to begin from the moment people arrive. If you’re new to Brick Lane, it really is a very special and unique venue, and we want audiences to take in and enjoy the whole space. There’ll be things to investigate, characters to meet and clues to spot before they’ve even sat down. Then there’s food, live music, comedy, murder and plenty of audience interaction throughout the evening. Each table becomes its own detective team to work out the culprit. We’re also encouraging people to dress up in their 1940s finery if they fancy it, so hopefully the audience becomes part of the world too. Essentially: come hungry, keep your eyes open and trust absolutely nobody!

Every table becomes its own detective squad and has to decide who committed the murder. How does having the audience actively involved change the show for you as performers? What's the potential for things to go gloriously off-script?

Oh, huge, and that’s part of what makes it so exciting! We have a fabulous cast who are ready to play with whatever comes our way. You never quite know what an audience member is going to say or do, particularly when they think they’ve cracked the case, so there’s freedom for us to respond and have fun with them in character. But that feels very true to music hall and panto - some of the funniest moments are the ones nobody planned. Ask me again after the first performance and I may regret saying that…

The show draws on the traditions of music hall and pantomime as well as murder mystery. What is it about those older theatrical traditions that still works so well with audiences today?

I think it’s the relationship with the audience. Music hall and pantomime don’t pretend there’s an invisible wall between the people on stage and the people watching, everyone is part of it. I love that. I actually started my career working in variety performance, so it’s wonderful to still be part of that world.

There’s something really joyful about being in a room full of people laughing, singing and responding together, and I think now more than ever audiences are craving that sense of connection and entertainment. We’re borrowing that permission to join in, but wrapping it around a murder mystery. Brick Lane Music Hall is such a special home for that style of entertainment, so it feels lovely to celebrate those traditions while creating something new with them.

The show combines murder with farce, music and plenty of silliness. How do you find the comedy in something that is, technically, about people being bumped off?

By making the people being bumped off thoroughly deserving of it! Only joking… mostly. I think murder mysteries are already inherently theatrical, everyone has a secret, everyone has a motive, and everybody is behaving suspiciously. Once you put that into the hands of the SLAGs, the comedy rather takes care of itself! We’re not exactly aiming for gritty realism. The murders give us the stakes, but everything surrounding them can become increasingly ridiculous. Hopefully audiences will spend equal amounts of time trying to solve the crime and wondering what on earth they’ve just witnessed.

Finally, if you were actually trapped in a theatre with a murderer on the loose, which fictional detective would you want investigating — Sherlock Holmes, Poirot, Miss Marple or somebody else entirely?

When I was younger, I actually wanted to be a detective myself! I even did my school work experience with North Yorkshire Police, something I’m not entirely sure would get past health and safety nowadays. Somewhere along the way I decided I’d rather play a detective instead and went on to train in acting instead. I’m one of those annoying people who works out the ending of a film halfway through, so I reckon I’d give solving it myself a pretty good shot. But if I got to choose, it would be Jessica Fletcher from Murder, She Wrote. I used to watch it whenever I was off sick from school and absolutely loved her. What an icon, and I think she’d fit in rather well at Brick Lane!

The Pleasures of Fanny is at Brick Lane Music Hall from 2nd – 6th October. For tickets and more information, visit:https://bricklanemusichall.co.uk/