Denouement: An Improvised Mystery

Denouement: An Improvised Mystery is a live theatre show in which the detective story is created on stage, presented at the O2 Apollo Manchester. It is a one-off visit to the city's theatre programme.

Denouement is an improvised mystery, a form of live theatre in which the story is created on stage rather than performed from a fixed script. The title refers to the final stage of a detective plot, the point at which the threads are drawn together, and the evening is built around that structure. Each performance therefore unfolds differently, shaped by the performers'responses to one another in the moment.

The show is staged at the O2 Apollo Manchester, which hosts concerts and shows in the city. Because the plot is invented as it goes, each evening follows its own course, and the show suits those drawn to spontaneous storytelling and the mystery genre. Anyone familiar with detective fiction will recognise its conventions of clues, suspects and a final reckoning, which the performers build into the story.