Clue Review at Theatre Cedar Rapids

 

Clue  (the stage play)

Performed by Theatre Cedar Rapid Friday, Oct. 13, 2023

 Clue, the play, is a farce whodunnit, based on the movie and the venerable board game itself. All the well-known players such as Professor Plum and Miss Scarlet are present along with their associated murder weapons. The plot is strained but who cares when a group of very familiar suspects are gathered together on a dark and stormy night in an old mansion and engaged in seeing who did what to whom and how.

 

Right up front, let me say that I loved this production. I detected a single minded, disciplined commitment by the director and cast to play seriously inside the play without the kind of wink and nod to the audience that I felt was present in CRT’s recent production of the The Play That Went Wrong. The director here, Mic Evans, kept the over the top script from going to the heads of the cast and kept them tightly controlled even when they were literally dancing from room to room during the scenic bridges.

 

Second, the show profited greatly from an ingeniously designed set and superb lighting, music, and sound effects. The rumble of thunder shook the building and right on time lightning flashes accompanied it. Sharp intensified spotlight stabs accompanied the actor’s “takes” at dramatic moments. Kudos even to the stage crew as they smoothly enabled the actors to weave through the moving walls and doors.  A special mention goes to Seth Engen as Mr. Green, who managed a magnificently controlled back bend as a chandelier descended slowly onto him from above. This homage to Phantom of the Opera was worth the price of the ticket all by itself.

 

I also couldn’t but help to think about how almost none of technical artistry on view in the production would have even been possible in the 1950’s when I started my career in the theatre. Today’s computer aided systems were still in the future.  Lighting boards generally only had individually controlled dimmer handles or dials. We created sound and music effects by dropping a needle on a record—it was actually a 78 not a 33 1/3.  Spotlights had one color based on a gelatin slide put in front of the lens. Light movement could happen only as fast as human operators could physically adjust the placement of the instrument or the individual dimmers. Now you can change a single spotlight’s color and change its direction and focus by remote control. 

 

A new problem we didn’t have to face “in the old days” was the pressure that our current technical fireworks puts on actors to rise above glitz. It is a pleasure to report that this cast did just that. Throughout the evening they showed both physical stamina and performance skill. Standouts for me were John Miersen, as the butler, Greg Smith as Colonel Mustard, and  Lauren Galliart as the tarty Miss Scarlet in a flaming red dress that was certainly the knock-out costume of the evening. Belle Caney had multiple roles but made a real mark as the acerbic cook and later as a floppy dead body.

  

I close with my delight at seeing a show that could attract and please an audience composed of all age levels from children to adults. In sum, this play “went right”  and the enjoyment was evident during the curtain call and as the audience left the theatre. Get a ticket. It runs until October 29th.  

 

Jdy