Leave it to the Iola Community Theatre troupe to expand upon the simple “whodunit” genre in absurdly hilarious fashion.
After all, there’s also “wheredunit” and “howdunit” questions to be answered.
Such is the theme for this weekend’s production of “Clue” a dark comedy based on the popular board game and subsequent cult classic movie of the same name.
And, much as a game night with friends and family, this ensemble brings laughs and surprises from start to finish.
Under the guidance of ICT stage veteran and first-time director Hayley Derryberry, “Clue” runs Friday and Saturday nights at 7 o’clock and at 2 p.m. Sunday on the Bowlus Fine Arts Center stage. Adult tickets sell for $10 apiece, students for $5, and are available via iolacommunitytheatre.org or at the door.
The setting, a mansion sometime in the early 1950s, provides the backdrop for this prerequisite dark and stormy night.
A cadre of guests has been invited to Boddy Manor for dinner — and a game.
As they enter, each is given a pseudonym, which should sound quite familiar to those who have played the board game — Col. Mustard, Miss Peacock, Professor Plum, etc.
It’s up to Wadsworth the Butler, the superb Nic Olson, to help explain why these seemingly random dinner guests have been selected.
See, they’ve all been the subject of blackmail from the same person: the aforementioned Mr. Boddy.
As one might suspect, the evening quickly takes a left turn. I mean, what fun is a murder mystery without a good old-fashioned murder?
And what follows is a rapid-paced, uproarious series of events as each of the characters tries to uncover who had the motive (spoiler alert: they all do), the means (here’s where it gets a little tricker) and the opportunity (and that’s where the fun begins.)
THE ENSEMBLE cast features a delectable motley crew of characters.
River Hess is brilliant as Col. Mustard, a Washington, D.C., insider who would just as soon keep his insider past secret from the others. He’s a bit of an eccentric, often flustered, and always spot-on hilarious.
Speaking of hilarious, Judd Wiltse shines as the lecherous Professor Plum, a disgraced psychiatrist who takes a job with the government after losing his medical license for doing “what male doctors aren’t supposed to do with their lady patients.”
