It was a play only the Isle of Wight could have produced: Newchurch Drama Group's whodunnit, Murder on the Midnight Ferry.

There was some impressive attention to detail, at Newchurch Community Hall, for the show which ran between Friday, April 12 and Sunday, April 14.

The volunteers collecting tickets on the door and showing audience members to their seats were committed to the theme: Decked out in high vis jackets and hard hats.

"Follow the left lane to your seat and we hope you have a calm crossing," we were told.

The play was described as a cross between a farce, a panto and a murder mystery, and was the work of actor, Kevin Wilson, who writes under the pen name, Heaton Wilson.

Kevin explained: “There are only six passengers, including a busybody called Mrs Marble (Lesley Sutton) and a hopeless detective (Steve White).

"It’s not long before we discover the captain has been killed. Or has he?

"So, who did it and are any of these people who they say they are?”

Laughter and bewilderment were promised and they delivered on both - plus some participatory singing.

The show made a point of breaking the fourth wall, via two 'directors' (Sarah Rollason and Jenny Manning), stage left, who liberally knocked-back the 'whisky' while overseeing 'a rehearsal'.

At times, it was tricky to work out if parts of the show were as intended: The detective losing his moustache and having to leave the stage for a replacement (a clue, or a lack of glue?), the prompts from the increasingly merry directors, a repeated ferry horn sound effect, to interrupt the actors (Ros White, Mark Stewart, George Webster, Heather Johnson).

The programme read: "You will have our utmost respect if you can work out what is going on, because we've been rehearsing for a couple of months now and we still have no idea."

Despite this, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

One running joke revolved around some hapless stage hands (Kerry Lawson and Natalie Barker) who set and reset the stage in exactly the same way. Could they really be this useless? This, it seems, was not all it seemed.

I will admit to getting a little lost at the end, due to the number of twists and turns but the 'cheapest ferry tickets for years' ensured the vibe in the hall was much jollier than being told the cafe has already closed on a delayed midnight ferry, on a cold winter's night.