Colorful, comedic murder mystery on stage this week at Mainland Regional High School
LINWOOD — A colorful whodunit is about to play out on stage as the Mainland Regional High School Drama Club presents “Clue: High School Edition.”
It’s game over for the victims in this murder mystery, an adaptation of the 1985 film based on the classic Hasbro board game, but the fun has just begun for the audience.
Featuring about 30 cast members and 10 stage crew, performances are scheduled for 7 p.m. Nov. 12-13 and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Nov. 14 at the high school in Linwood.
Set on a dark and stormy night in 1954 Washington, D.C., the production features six colorful guests — Miss Scarlet, Col. Mustard, Professor Plum, Mrs. White, Mr. Green and Mrs. Peacock — who arrive at Boddy Manor under pseudonyms for an unusual dinner party hosted by Mr. Boddy.
When the host ends up dead, the guests and the butler, Wadsworth, must race against the clock to solve the murder before the body count rises.
“On the surface, ‘Clue’ is a fast-paced, laugh-out-loud murder mystery filled with outrageous characters, slamming doors, clever wordplay and enough twists and turns to make your head spin,” Director Phil Pallitto said. “But beneath the comedy lies a story about secrets, deception, suspicion and the ridiculous lengths people will go to protect themselves.”
The 90-minute production features slapstick comedy and synchronized movement by student actors in 1950s period costumes. The two-story stage is among the lead characters, created to facilitate the flow from room to room and changing as the action moves throughout the mansion.
Pallitto said they wanted to pay homage to the board game, so they included Easter eggs throughout. For instance, the portraits on the walls are replicas of the game cards, peacock feathers and plums are evident on shelves and tables.
Since color plays such a large part in the game, Pallitto and set designers James Sundra and Casey Michael took it a step further, painting the room where each character is accused of the crime the color corresponding to her or his name.
“I think that’s a very unique detail that I think adds to kind of the character of the set. Our stage crew works incredibly hard,” actress Kira Finnegan said.
Senior Alex Piergiovanni said the set of last season’s “The Diary of Anne Frank” was all black and white except for a few spots of color. The mood is certainly lighter in “Clue” with the kaleidoscopic set.
“I think that shows that the topic is a little bit dark, like murdering people, but it’s a very fun, comedic show,” the Northfield resident said.
Sundra said large groups must rush into and out of rooms, forcing the creative construction, which features eight of the nine rooms in the game (the ballroom is not part of the script).
“It’s difficult trying to fit nine people into nine different rooms,” he said.
They came up with a couple of ideas such as swinging sets and multiple doors.
“We’re very lucky because the game board is so iconic that we were able to really take inspiration from the board game,” he said.
“I think that just as we both were mapping out just how many rooms there are, there was just some ideas that came naturally, which was really nice,” Michael added.
Like the set, props also play an important part in the production. Pallitto said all of the weapons are reproductions of the game pieces.
The play was intentionally a divergence from last fall’s production of “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
“This year we really just wanted something that was fun, that would give a little bit of farce and allow the kids to just kind of play different characters, which is unlike anything we’ve done for the fall play,” Pallitto said, noting each role lends itself to self-interpretation by the actors.
“It lends itself to more experimentation and creativity on their part,” he said.
Since every role is double-cast, “seeing both casts’ interpretation of it, it’s almost like two separate, two completely different shows.”
The butler Wadsworth is the only character who could be called a lead, since he/she is on stage nearly the entire time and acts as a narrator, occasionally breaking the fourth wall by speaking directly to the audience.
Finnegan, a senior from Northfield who has played Dolly in “Hello, Dolly” and Ursula in “The Little Mermaid,” said Wadsworth “is definitely one of the biggest roles I’ve had yet … definitely one that I’ve put the most work in.”
“There’s so much room to explore a character, especially having this role be originally male and now flipping it over to something a little bit more gender neutral has definitely been very fun for me,” she said.
Appearing on stage for nearly 45 minutes straight, then again after short intermission, is demanding on the actors in this production.
“It definitely requires a lot of perseverance,” Finnegan said.
Piergiovanni, who also plays Wadsworth, said the role requires creating connections with those on stage and those in front of the stage.
“We are kind of the main part of the story, the main drive. It’s kind of like, we’re like sitting and watching it all unravel, but we know what’s going to happen. So I think that’s a super cool, kind of challenging part of the story,” he said.
Pallitto said that while “Wadsworth kind of takes us on this journey … the core group of kids are on stage the whole show so it really is an ensemble piece.”
“I think from an acting standpoint, it challenges them to tap into a set of acting skills that they don’t normally get to do. It’s not just say a line and leave. It’s now, ‘Who am I in this scene?’ ‘What is my role?’ ‘What is my purpose?’ ‘What am I hiding?’ ‘How can I invite the audience in to draw their own conclusions and not accuse me as the suspect?’ and things like that.”
Audrey Hope Gill, a senior from Northfield, has portrayed quite a range of characters in her seven performances at Mainland, from Ariel in “The Little Mermaid” and Anne Frank in “The Diary of Anne Frank” to Ernestina in “Hello, Dolly.”
She said her role as Mrs. Peacock is a new challenge.
“I think it’s so fun to just be able to, like, let loose on stage and be funny and be quirky,” she said, noting most of the cast are on an equal footing. “We’re all on stage together, so we’ve all gotten so close and it’s really, like, a cool experience like that.”
While the play is set in 1954, its themes feel surprisingly relevant today.
“We live in a world where misinformation spreads faster than the truth, everyone has an opinion and pointing fingers is practically a competitive sport. We make assumptions, jump to conclusions and sometimes decide who’s guilty before we’ve even heard the evidence,” Pallitto said. “Sound familiar? Perhaps Boddy Manor isn’t so different from the world outside its doors. Although, thankfully, most of our disagreements don’t involve a lead pipe.”
In a country fractured by division and a world scarred by war, members of the audience will certainly leave the play with a smile on their faces.
“What I love most about ‘Clue’ is that it reminds us not to take ourselves too seriously. In a world that can often feel divided, overwhelming and downright absurd, sometimes the best thing we can do is come together and laugh,” Pallitto said.
“Clue” Cast
Wadsworth: Kira Finnegan/Alex Piergiovanni
Yvette: Charlie-Kate Crane/Asha Patel
Miss Scarlett: Juliana Brummett/Lucy Tabasso
Mrs. Peacock: Audrey Hope Gill/Charlotte Gerber
Mrs. White: Cyla Dicker/Olivia Crede
Col. Mustard: Declan Kardchilova/John DeRitchie
Professor Plum: Madison McKnight/Patrick Mularz
Mr. Green: Judah Johnson/Michael Crane
The Cook: Isabel Girola/Pia Dougherty
Singing Telegram Girl: Olivia Wrigley/Emma Moceus
The Cop: Gianna Giannantonio/Soleil Diaz
Mr. Boddy: Katie Messina/Theo McGinty
The Motorist: Emma Waldron/Xavier Dowdy
Chief of Police: Alex Hunt/Ethan Gerber
Cops, butlers, maids, others: Matthew Tefeen, Valerie Wilches, Madelyn Reed, Sadie Gorbig, Naya DeRias.
– STORY by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
