A Murder Mystery Dinner with Far Out Theatre at West Compton Manor

I was recently invited to possibly the most exciting opportunity I have ever had through this blog, a murder mystery dinner and stay overnight. The murder mystery part was performed by the lovely people behind Far Out Theatre at West Compton Manor and we were able to stay overnight in order to really enjoy the proceedings. It was a little drive to Dorset but it was more than worth it as we had a fantastic time.

I’ve been slightly delayed in getting this post up as we’ve all been suffering from sickness bugs recently and I wanted to ensure I published this with a clear head so I could talk about just how much we enjoyed ourselves. You may have seen my numerous pictures on Instagram about it, I’m sure you can see I had a great time.

West Compton Manor itself is an absolutely gorgeous place and we were very honoured to stay there. When we arrived, we were invited in for tea and cake before being shown to our rooms. We were totally not expecting the team at Far Out Theatre to already be in character but it was great, really building the excitement before the dinner later on that evening. Ben Tover was indeed a very good butler.

I’ve always wanted to do a murder mystery so was excited to see how it would proceed and we were shown five scenes, all based on the day of Edd N Buried’s funeral and his wake thereafter, of which we were all attendees. One scene was played out before we retired to the room for dinner, others whilst eating.

We were able to question the suspects between these scenes and really put the team from Far Out Theatre on the spot. Fair play to them, they responded well despite having some very strange ways thrown their way from Steve and Amy aka Everything Mummy! The food we had was absolutely delicious and we were supplied with plenty of wine to make our stay as hospitable as possible. What we didn’t realise was that the cast actually prepared the food themselves alongside the performance and our sometimes very intrusive questions – how amazing are they?

We were treated to a Bloody Mary Veloute, then stuffed mushroom to start followed by goulash and ice cream for dessert. It all tasted delicious – I especially enjoyed the mushroom starter – and since we are talking about food, I have to mention the gorgeous breakfast I was made the next morning – it tasted divine and was exactly what I needed!

Throughout the five scenes, our choices for the perpetrator changed many times but when it came to opting for who we thought had done it, I went with my original thought. With all the information we had gathered together, mine seemed like a viable bet and I like to fancy myself as a detective when watching or reading murder mysteries anyway. I was wrong. Only one person got it right and that was Steve, which he was incredibly smug about!

After the perpetrator had been revealed, we spent some time chatting with the Far Out Theatre team and Ashley who owns West Compton Manor. They are an incredibly friendly bunch and a great group of people to have a laugh with. They are very talented and I wish them well with the murder mystery dinners in the future – I’ve been recommending them to everyone!