‘skilfully delivered by a bright and talented young cast’
Writer/Director Tom Spoors’ comedy merges workplace sitcom with a whodunnit mystery to ask, in a world where everyone believes their own version of the truth, how can we ever be objective? I’m not sure we really get to the bottom of that but it’s an entertaining forty-five minutes, nonetheless.
Six employees. An ordinary Tuesday in the office. Until receptionist Susan (Alicia Thompson) discovers that someone has stolen the envelope containing £60,000 she’d been asked to look after. To solve the mystery, the Boss (Tyler Campbell) asks his employees – Nathan (Andrew Kent); Jenny (Lennea Hughes); Danny (Thomas Earle); Brian (Jack Potter); and the unnamed New Guy (Philippe Rose) – to retrace their steps, leading to absurd recreations, ridiculous revelations, and alarming accusations.
There’s a distinct nod to several plot devices, none more so than the Rashomon effect which involves various characters providing subjective, alternative, and contradictory versions of the same incident, all of which is skilfully delivered by a bright and talented young cast.
I always say less is more and in terms of this production, the staging and use of props is perfectly balanced with scene changes well-choregraphed and delivered by the cast with strong comic timing and use of physical theatre.
There was a good selection of complementary musical pieces with pre-show music by Kilian Valentine through to licensed compositions from Kevin MacLeod and Ben Hewitson, although these could be paced out more effectively.
The biggest challenge is the storyline. It’s a clever idea but not fully thought through which is acknowledged to some extent in the director’s notes, resulting in several entertaining parts, clearly paying homage to one genre or another, but that don’t add up to a satisfying whole.
I’ve written at length about the importance of healthy creative friction between writer, director, and actors that benefits the development of a production. It’s evident here that the cast have been allowed too much artistic licence with their characterisation, and whilst providing very amusing cameos, doesn’t tie back to any single vision and partly explains the lack of resolution at the conclusion.
It is a clever idea though, and I would encourage Spoors to develop the piece: forty-five minutes is not long enough but an interval would interrupt the necessary frenetic energy so somewhere around eighty minutes would seem about right which means there’s over thirty minutes of material still to be written. The introduction of a separate director would provide the necessary challenge to the writing and through workshop with the cast result in a more fulfilling and rounded production.
Performed at Shakespeare North Playhouse as part of the Heading North Festival, I can’t help but feel that the focus has been on making an impact at Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Whilst I’m sure it will, I’m less concerned with what did or didn’t happen on a Tuesday, and more with what could happen with this production next.
It Happened on a Tuesday performs from 17th to 22nd August at theSpace @ Niddry St as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Further details and booking https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/it-happened-on-a-tuesday
Review Date: 10th July 2026
Star Rating: THREE