An Honourable Woman, the forthcoming production of the Mere Amateur Dramatic Society, is described as a “crime comedy”. A mixture of crime and comedy may sound like a strange hybrid, but such apparent incongruity is nothing new or unusual, and many a story of dark deeds has been lightened and given added appeal by a judicious permeation of levity.
There is certainly no lack of criminal activity in An Honourable Woman — armed robbery and murder are two examples — but the dialogue particularly is richly laced with humour, both laconic and whimsical, and some of it (be warned!) is a little earthy.
The play was originally written in Spanish by the Madrid-born playwright Miguel Mihura. MADS’ member Mal Mallett has freely translated the original, adapted it for the English stage, and updated it to the present day. In this version, directed by MADS stalwart Mary White, the action takes place in the leafy suburbs of London, not Madrid.
The play is set in the home of Robert Conway — the main protagonist — a bachelor and philanderer in early middle age. A chance meeting with Julia Constanza, the titular self-styled “honourable woman” with whom Robert had a brief fling a few years earlier, sets off a chain of events that is to change his life for ever.
Robert is stunned by a proposition Julia makes to him, and a brutal murder brings the peremptory D.C.I. Kane on the scene. In true “Poirot” fashion the D.C.I. finally reveals the truth and answers the question — is Julia really “an honourable woman”?
An Honourable Woman will be performed at Mere’s Lecture Hall on November 19th 20th, and 21st, starting at 7.30 p.m.