Theatre / 8 Women, directed by Chris Baldock. At Belco Arts, until October 19. Reviewed by SAMARA PURNELL.

The scene was set – French music plays upon entering the intimate space where 8 Women is to unfold. It’s almost Christmas and the female members of the family gather at the house for holidays.

As originally written by French writer Robert Thomas, the setting remains in the French countryside in the 1950s, in an isolated chalet in the snow.

The set, designed by director Chris Baldock, is cosy, detailed but not excessively cluttered, and features red velvet armchairs and gold and green “drapes”. Performed in-the-round, the audience is so intimately close as to be right there in the living room with them.

The palette of red, mustard, russet and green follows through into the costumes, tying the visual aspects of the production together nicely.

When the women go to wake the only man of the house, to their horror, they find him stabbed and covered in blood. And now the daughters, wife, sister, in-laws, and house staff are all suspects.

Newcomer to Mockingbird Theatre, Emily Borgo as daughter Suzon is calm, measured and methodical with an assured stage presence as she begins to question each suspect. Celine Oudin as Gaby, has translated the French script so as it sits easily with an Australian audience and brings to the production a genuine French accent and embodies the nervy, prim wife. Catherine (Liz Caddy) provides the acting highlights of the production as the detective-novel bookworm with a fanciful imagination and a flair for the dramatic.

The accents vary amongst cast members, with maid Louise (Catherine Elias) delivering her lines in a deadpan drawl with lines so rude and sarcastic one wonders how on earth she kept her job, unless, perhaps there is more to it than meets the eye. A couple of the actors have adopted British accents and others sound completely Australian. There’s even a slight hint of an American accent from Maxine Eayrs as the devil-may-care Pierette.

Snowed in and with phone lines cut, their various means of escape (if not trying too hard) are snuffed out. As the comedic situations and lines ensue, (“This kid’s a numpty” got huge chuckles from the audience), it seems that a penchant for books and card games might be the downfall of some characters. Granny (Liz St Clair) absolutely looked the part of the wealthy old matriarch, and there are some very funny antics surrounding Granny’s stashed port.

Bitter spinster and hypochondriac Augustine (Jane O’Sullivan) and Madame Chanel (Carole Wallace) round out the cast.

Ailments that may or may not be real afflict Augustine as the bitterness and rivalry between sisters comes to light. Secrets, motives and connections are dug up and flung across the coffee table at each other. House staff weigh in, too.

In this house that appears to have been a hive of activity during the night in question, other potential means of death for the characters are introduced, almost Cluedo-esque style. The audience begins watching keys, noting who drinks what and who is absent for how long. With an assortment of screams, bangs (sometimes taking a moment to work out what the sound-effect was) and blackouts, the characters and audience are kept on their toes. It’s humorous, not scary. Unintentionally humorous is the use of a torch instead of a pistol, in keeping with apparent laws.

It took a moment to settle into the rhythm of the play and develop trust in the acting and timing of the play. Occasionally lines were unintentionally spoken over each other. Towards the end of the play, a lot of exits and labouring on some points gave the opportunity for further murder attempts to take place as the farce and melodrama peaks.

Keeping track of eight stories was actually easy enough to follow and was enjoyable to go with the flow rather than pick things apart, all the while wondering how the story ends. At interval, audience members could be heard discussing the potential of characters for murder, going over the plot and logistics. The audience appeared to be engaged and enjoying the ride. Raising seating for the second row may have made it easier to see some of the action at times.

With a good dose of melodrama, viewers are kept guessing until the end as the insults and accusations fly across the living room.

There is some variation in the conviction of the acting, but the ensemble does a commendable job in presenting this production, with the complexities of having most characters on stage for the majority of the play. An entertaining and intimate French farce where secrets, card games, money and tea could be…deadly. Et voila!

Chic French theatre hit set to thrill