Prescription: Murder

Synopsis

Psychiatrist Roy Fleming and his wife are celebrating their anniversary when he is called to deal with a female patient. On returning he has to soothe his angry wife with the promise of a trip to Acapulco. When Fleming’s wife is found dead, Columbo is brought in to investigate and seeds of doubt are planted in his mind... Prescription: Murder is the legendary Lieutenant Columbo’s first ever case. Before Peter Falk immortalised the character on TV, the dishevelled detective featured in this stage play making a rare UK appearance.

Our Review:

Anne Morley-Priestman - 7 February 2011

Some 50 years ago, two American script-writers – Richard Levinson and William Link – created a Los Angeles detective called Columba. It was for a television mystery series and the play was called Enough Rope (as in “...to hang yourself”). Columba’s creators weren’t going to let a good idea fade after one outing, so they re-cast it as a stage play – Prescription: Murder.

That’s the show which is currently on tour. Our dishevelled hero is played by John Guerrasio, who incorporates many of the mannerisms familiar from Peter Falk in the long-running television series but still manages to make the part his own in Michel Lunney’s production. The play suffers from the old division into three distinct acts coupled to the modern trend towards having only one interval and from scene changes which drop the tension along with the curtain.

If Columba is the hero, the villain is Brian Capron as Dr Flemmin...

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