Jeffrey Hatcher’s Murderers is a staggeringly well-written comic drama. Next Act Theatre’s production of the play that graced the stage of the Off-Broadway Theatre at the end of 2008 was easily one of the best shows I’ve seen in the past five years. And even if I’m not going to have a chance to see it, the fact that the production will be making it to Sheboygan this summer gives me some sense of satisfaction.
Directed by David Cecsarini, the play features three monologues that all take place in a fictional retirement community in Florida. The three-person cast that Cecsarini worked with on the 2008 production has been reassembled for a staging of the comedy scheduled to run July 6 – 10. At the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in downtown Sheboygan.
The cast featured includes distinguished Milwaukee stage actors Norman Moses (who has worked extensively with the Skylight over the years,) Ruth Schudson (co-founder of the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre) and Linda Stephens, who appeared most recently as a remarkably nice woman in Milwaukee Chamber’s staggeringly captivating production of The Sweetest Swing In Baseball. The three actors oerform monologues that are all distinct, stand alone tales that all exist in the same setting, sharing characters and themes. It’s a mystery, There’s murder. And it’s all a lot of fun. This summer it hits Sheboygan a year and a half after it closed in Milwaukee.
