OVER MY DEAD BODY Adelaide University Fringe Club Sandford House Until 12 Mar 2011 Review by Jamie Wright Three elderly murder-mystery writers are faced with a challenge – how to commit the perfect crime?Drawing inspiration from – and paying homage to – the classic works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, DorothyL Sayers and Agatha Christie, 'Over My Dead Body' is a blend of farce and hard-boiled detective thriller. Matthew Taylor, directing from Michael Sutton and Anthony Fingleton's script, plays mostly for laughs,but there are too many occasions, especially in the first act, where the pace – already slow-movingthanks to the script – drops too much. Aaron Braegen, Elizabeth Graham and Sam Tutty are the three elderly writers, and all are playingcharacters around a half-century older than their actual ages, and all three do well and maintain theadvanced age throughout the entire show. Paul Briske is arrogant and obnoxious as young writer Simon Vale, but he is outshone for vileness,though, by Mark Ormsby as Vale's agent Leo Sharp, while James Reilly and Katherine Edmonds are bothslightly awkward as the detectives. It is an aged-up Alastair Collins, though, who steals the show as the convincingly doddering butler,Charters. Special mention must go to Kahlia Tutty for the excellent age makeup. Apart from the aforementioned drop in pace, there are problems with lines and volume, the timing ofcertain cues, and some awkward blocking in the small space – but these are the sorts of things thatshould smooth out over the run. While it is more the sort of show one would expect in the regular Adelaide amateur season than theFringe, there are plenty of funny moments – and in-jokes and references galore for fans of classic Britishmurder mysteries. Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)