Space Mystery: A Murder in Space is exactly what it says on the tin. We join the passengers and crew upon the S.S. Space Cruise when the murder of an intergalactic mobster Dead Pan has just occurred. Everything is in turmoil on the ship, with a dead body on board and only 50 minutes to solve the murder, Space Detective DCI John Wood is on the case. This is a story of crime, romance, and death.

We start with a cold open, setting the scene for this comedy play, with fourth wall breaks right from the get-go. DCI Wood soon stumbles across the over-eager Officer Love Interest, which shows very clearly the type of humour this show is heading towards. There are many meta jokes dispersed around each scene, sometimes spelling out the joke a little too clearly for the audience to truly enjoy. We also see many puns in the opening of this play, as Woods “gets on the case”.

The visual gags in this play are humorous and amusing, with gags such as the captain’s log being cleaned, or the criminal bandits Lemon and Sherbet tailing the suspects.

 "It is up to DCI Wood, and his trusty sidekick Officer Interest, to solve the murder"

On the Space Cruise we meet Mr Fax, a no-nonsense mobster, his daughter, Jessica, the Captain, and wizened war criminal Brookes, along with the aforementioned criminal duo Lemon and Sherbert. It is up to DCI Wood, and his trusty sidekick Officer Interest, to solve the murder, and question each of these characters.

This space meets detective (meets western) play delivers its comedy exactly like its title, by spelling out the joke for the audience rather than letting them find the punchline themselves. With gags relying on things such as adding the word space in front of them to make them amusing, such as space detective and space slough, the laughs fall a little short.

"Lemon and Sherbet seem to have wandered into the wrong script"

The comedic moments are dotted around each scene, rather than being constant, allowing for the story to develop within each scene. However, Lemon and Sherbet seem to have wandered into the wrong script, causing some moments of humour, but also some confusion in the audience when this hasn’t been as clear as the other jokes.

DCI Wood is purposefully written as a walking cliche, causing the character to be very two-dimensional. The other characters feel very similar in the way that they are written: there is not much character development from most of the characters. We witness some emotional turmoil as the plot thickens and DCI Wood is sent to the brig (or space jail), but he seems unscathed on the other side.

This comedy has a lot of slapstick and wordplay comedy in the style of Airplane! and The Naked Gun, but it lacks the storytelling element these pieces of work have to showcase. There are some comedic moments to enjoy, so if you are a fan of this type of comedy, this show is for you!

Space Mystery: A Murder in Space is showing at The Space at Surgeon's Hall from 15-27th August