Quotations from P G Wodehouse are copyright of, and reprinted by permission of, the Trustees of the Wodehouse Estate © 2012 The P G Wodehouse Society (UK)

A Rhyming Good Whodunit at The Arts Club! – 7 July 2009

by Jamie Jarrett

The evening of 7th July saw a large gathering of members, including a fair few new members, at The Arts Club. And a very enjoyable evening it was.

Simon Brett of novel writing and radio broadcasting fame and now also a patron of our society enthralled everyone with the humorous and thrilling "A Rhyme In Crime". Not only has Simon written this play, but he also performed all eleven characters by using different voices and mannerisms.

(The pre-event notice which includes a profile of Simon said: Members will be interested to hear that Simon Brett will be the guest speaker at our Society meeting on July 7th. He first came to public attention working on radio programmes at the BBC such as Week Ending, Frank Muir Goes Into and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. He later became a professional writer resulting in a number of radio comedy series, including After Henry, No Commitments and Smelling of Roses. He has also appeared in "Quote Unquote", and also presented a series called Moral Notes looking at how popular songs were used to reflect values and morality in Victorian times. He also produced Wodehouse's Joy in the Morning in 1978. Simon came along to the Society's Real Tennis event on June 7th last year (please click here for a full report). At the post-match dinner, he gave a witty speech in which he quoted a Wodehouse passage concerning the Nodders of Hollywood. It was this that led to 'The Nodders' becoming the name of our society's Real Tennis team! Simon also spoke at the Society dinner at Dulwich in 1999, following the annual Gold Bats cricket match. We look forward to meeting Simon again in July!)

Simon Brett in action as Lady Olga Trout

It was a classic murder mystery in a fine country house with all of the guests and servants being suspects. With multiple twists in the plot it had everyone 'glued', but the added joy was that the dialogue was in rhyme! The amateur sleuth solving the crime was of course Lord Ranaleigh De Vere, a marvellous comic character creation with a superbly preposterous accent.

The programme, yes we were each given a programme(!), revealed the scale of Simon Brett's achievement by mentioning that every character was played by an anagram of himself. For example, De Vere was played Osbert Mint and Lady Polly Westingham by Toni B Merts!

I will not say who did it, in the hope that you will be able to see or hear "A Crime In Rhyme" performed. Alternatively you may wish to purchase the text – "A Crime In Rhyme" was first performed at the Arundel Festival in 1998 and it is now published by Frith House Ltd in "A Crime in Rhyme and Other Mysterious Fragments".

Simon has promised to perform another play for the society, so if you are lucky enough to be a member (or if not, why not join our society?!) be sure to look out for this under our Future Events section.

Simon Brett takes deserved congratulations from Hilary Bruce, whilst everyone giave a standing ovation

The evening began sadly with our chairman Hilary Bruce reporting the death of Mike Jackson. Mike will be much missed by his many friends in the Society. The Gold Bats, for who Mike played in third bat, have made the match at Audley End in August a memorial match for Mike (click here for a report).

Hilary also reported that Alan Ayckborn has now become a patron of the society.

In addition the Heywood Hill bookshop in Curzon Street, London, will be holding a Wodehouse exhibition in September and October. Full details are available in Wooster Sauce and there will be a private viewing for members of the society on Tuesday, 29 September. This exhibition is really not to be missed, it contains many interesting Wodehousean memorabilia from some of the most important collections and archives (click here for a report).