Clue

Clue was inspired by the board game from my childhood, Cluedo, and I have vague memories of being utterly confused and bewildered by the endless possibilities of who did what, where and how.

Friday night’s opening of Clue at Theatre on Chester created an atmosphere of nostalgia, no doubt not simply for me alone, as we were welcomed to the home of Mr. Boddy by his officious, immaculately presented butler, Wadsworth, played by Clive Hobson with oodles of formality and drole humour.

One by one the guests arrive and the fun begins.  Each character presents themselves, dressed to express their personality and individuality.  Costumes by Ros Moore created the colour palette perfectly with Mrs. White (Claudia Bedford) doing great service to a very sexy black dress trimmed in white, Miss Scarlet (Grace Chau), pouting in red, Mrs. Peacock (Julie Mathers) resplendent in green blue tones, Mr. Green (Carlin Hurdis) in … well you get the idea. Each of the guests, and I haven’t even mentioned Professor Plum (Dan Ferris) and Colonel Mustard (Tracey Okeby Lucan) were welcomed by the flouncing maid, Yvette (Fabiola Pellegrino), who was superbly outfitted in the classic sexy French maid attire every farce needs. Cassandra Gorman as the Cook completed the opening entourage and the scene was set for mystery and mayhem which built and built throughout the evening.

There were the obligatory one-liners, drawing laughter from the appreciative audience, with Colonel Mustard doing the heavy lifting in this department.  The casting of Tracey Okeby-Lucan in this role was a stroke of genius, as her portrayal was hilarious. Tracey’s comedic timing is always on the money and in Clue she was able to showcase her skills to perfection.

The cast worked hard, they had to, to create the outlandish situations they found themselves in and they are to be commended for their commitment to character, story and the physical challenges of the show.

I won’t worry about explaining the plot, you need to see the show to work that out for yourself, however, I will state that from the get go there is murder, blackmail, and some very dodgy explanations as to how things came about.

A feature of the production is the choreography.  I’m not referring to dancing, although there was one very amusing scene where the dancing and singing had us all in stitches.  I mean the movement of a fairly large cast around a rather limited space.  Director Isaac Owen, with John Wiltshire, designed a set which was something of an engineering marvel with revolving walls and swinging doors creating the Boddy Mansion.  Taking us from room to room as Wadsworth commanded the guests to ‘follow me’ a conga line around the stage ensued as walls moved, doors opened and closed, lighting altered, and guests exited one room and found themselves in another.  The complexity of these movements fascinated me, as one wrong move by anyone would have created havoc not easily fixed!

As so often is the case in productions such as a farcical mystery, lighting and sound design and operation are key to the success of any performance.  Mike Brew’s lighting design created the obligatory atmosphere – dim lights, lightning, and blackouts at crucial moments while Claire Buick’s sound design added to the entertainment.  The technical crew, lead by the highly experienced Wal Moore, nailed it, handling the myriad of cues without a hitch.

As the body count mounted, the craziness increased, and at this point I would like to commend Janelle Lye for her dummy making skills. 

As so often happens, there was more drama off than on in the lead up to opening night, and with a number of cast members dropping out at rather short notice the decision was made to double up on some roles.

Cassandra Gorman is to be congratulated on her portrayal of no less than seven characters.

I thoroughly enjoy a good farce done well, and Theatre on Chester delivered on a promise.

Annette Snars

www.theatreonchester.com.au