Patrons are Clue'd In at the Saenger Theatre
While it was a lovely evening outside on Canal Street, it was a dark and stormy night inside the Sanger Theatre for the opening night performance of Clue, a new farce touring the country—not to be confused with an Off-Broadway Clue the Musical that is also on tour. This Clue is a traditional one-act stage production played strictly for laughs.
But to be fair, while based on the game, the play draws largely from the 1985 film and keeps fans on their toes—slaying audiences with nostalgic turns and inside jokes, such as suggesting "The Parker Brothers" (the name of the original toy company which launched the game now owned by Hasbro) as probable culprits and following a map of the mansion that looks a lot like a familiar game board. Clue trips the light fantastic, even as the lights suddenly go out and bodies start piling up, with comic effect.
Let the Game Begin
The board game is clearly based on Agatha Christie's British murder mysteries—most notably her 1942 book The Body in the Library in which a colonel and his maid discover a corpse in the library of Gossington Hall—which inspired mystery buff Anthony Pratt to create the popular board game. Cluedo debuted in post WWII England in 1949 and as Clue in the United States. In both versions, players ask for collect clues to solve a murder of Mr. Boddy. The winner correctly determines which other player is the murderer, which weapon was used, and which room the murder took place. Like Christie's tale, the game is set in a Victorian-era mansion. The family board game instantly became a multi-generational way to kill the time. And so goes the plot.
The play is set in 1950's Cold War America. Fans yearning for the celebrity cast of the film will be not be disappointed at the ensemble gathered at Boddy Manor during this production. The six well-known suspects, Col. Mustard (John Treacy Egan), Mrs. White (Tari Kelly), Mrs. Peacock (Joanna Glushak), Mr. Green (John Shartzer), Professor Plum (Jonathan Spivey), and Miss Scarlet (Michelle Elaine), are welcomed into Boddy Manor by Wadsworth the butler (Mark Price) and Yvette the maid (Elisabeth Yancy) at the invitation from the mysterious Mr. Boddy (Alex Syiek).
The Game is Afoot
Victims of extortion during Joe McCarthy's Red Scare hearings, each are given items that can be used to kill their extortionist to prevent a scandal. Turn off the lights, and go!
The 15 actors—six of which are the literal pawns in this game of murder—play brilliantly off each other, making Casey Hushion's body-bending slapstick direction and Sandy Rustin's rapid-fire dialogue work. Rustin also ups the ante with the madcap murders by multiplying the film's multiple solutions exponentially and offering even more alternate murderers, before finally revealing the eagerly anticipated who, what, and where of the crime.
The character with arguably the best name recognition is Colonel Mustard, and John Treacy Egan personifies him with deadpan timing and spot-on physical comedy, easily eclipsing the actor from the movie...what was his name, again? Entering as the first guest, his arrogant, entitled manner is clear before he even speaks a word. And Egan's delivery just gets better as the show progresses.
Michelle Elaine makes Miss Scarlet her own and brings a subtle depth to the madam's confident sassiness that elevates this murder suspect above the farcical fray.
John Shartzer's Mr. Green is a hot hap-hazard mess. Whether dodging bullets, chandeliers, or just standing up, he makes his time on stage worth every second.
"Clue" performances at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans run through Sunday, June 23. Tickets can be purchased at the Saegner Theatre's website.
