Murder Before Evensong review: village mystery adapted for the stage
A stage adaptation of Reverend Richard Coles’s 2022 mystery novel Murder Before Evensong is being presented at the Watermill theatre in Newbury. The production features Ian Hallard as Canon Daniel Clement, a detecting rector investigating a story that connects plans for a church lavatory with events in the village’s military history.
Murder Before Evensong, an adaptation of Reverend Richard Coles’s 2022 novel, is being staged at the Watermill theatre in Newbury. The production follows Canon Daniel Clement, a rector who investigates a series of killings in the fictional village of Champton.
Ian Hallard plays the detecting rector in the production. The adaptation places the story in the 1980s, a setting that avoids the presence of mobile phones and CCTV and allows characters to have connections with the second world war.
The plot links Canon Clement’s plans to install a lavatory at St Mary’s with events concealed in the village’s military history. The review describes the adaptation as thoughtful while saying that it sometimes strains under the number of suspects, victims and actors taking on multiple roles.
The production is scheduled to run at the Watermill theatre in Newbury until 14 November. Murder Before Evensong launched Coles’s series about the detecting rector Canon Daniel Clement.
THE QUESTIONS THIS EVENT LEAVES BEHIND
What assumptions about village communities shape the mystery’s depiction of suspicion and trust?
How might the 1980s setting change the balance of power between investigators, suspects and victims?
What does the church-building dispute reveal about which local concerns receive attention?
How could assigning actors multiple roles affect the audience’s interpretation of identity and evidence?
What details from the village’s military history remain unavailable to the audience or characters?
YOUR QUESTION
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GLOBAL CURIOSITY MAP · SEPTEMBER 2026