This holiday season, the Alchemist Theatre offers an alternative to the season's familiar, traditional shows with a production that engages its audiences.
Michael Timm's interactive whodunit Who Killed the Ghost of Christmas Past? is part theater, part murder-mystery party, part stage comedy. The show follows a late-1920s theater group that experiences a death in the cast while performing a production of A Christmas Carol. After the first act establishes the scene, audiences are free to roam about the first floor and basement of the theater to interact with characters and try to find the murderer. Winners are awarded prize packages from area businesses. Timm's engaging script and game design, involving audiences getting information from characters by helping them out, draw audiences into the work of some very talented actors.
The show, a refreshing alternative to traditional holiday fare, rewards those willing to closely interact with the play. Any fan of Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett will have a great deal of fun getting into character as a detective. A good performance from the audience brings out good performances from actors in this kind of show, and there are some really fun performances here. Greg Maronde is intriguing and idiosyncratic as director, playwright and stage actor Kristoff Carpenter. Becca Segal is charmingly over the top as an actress looking to make it big. Alice Wilson plays the subtler end of the cast as the actress Mavis. Wilson uses her endearing, expressive face to say a lot with silence. The alluring Ellen Dunphy plays a rugged, sensual, cowgirl femme fatale named Layla.
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Alchemist Theatre's Who Killed the Ghost of Christmas Past? runs through Dec. 17. For ticket reservations, visit alchemisttheatre.com.
