Murderous Monologues

Next Act continues its season with Jeffrey Hatcher's Murderers, three monologues set in and around the fictitious Riddle Key Luxury Senior Center and Golf Course in Florida. Next Act has put together a trio of seasoned actors to bring Hatcher's comedy to the Off-Broadway Theatre.

Norman Moses plays a man who is marrying his lover's terminally ill mother so that he and her daughter can inherit all of her money tax-free. Ruth Schudson plays a resident of the community who suspects her husband of cheating on her. After a brief intermission, the show closes with Linda Stephens as an employee of the senior center who finds herself quite busy with activities not found in her job description.

It might seem a tad dull to sit through a full play of monologues, but the actors craft interesting performances out of a truly brilliant script. Hatcher's stories are anything but isolated to these three characters. It is mentioned briefly in passing that one of the many characters who doesn't appear onstage lives in a residence overlooking the 17th hole of the golf course. It's a very dense, symbolic and witty line that is accompanied by countless others throughout the course of the play. A script that is so tightly packed and populated by tiny significant details gives the world of the play a kind of reality that can be difficult to come by onstage.

Moses, Schudson and Stephens add to the depth with performances that are richly detailed. The cast is aided by the production's detailed set, lighting and prop design. There isn't anything onstage that doesn't need to be there, and careful attention is paid to detail with everything that appears onstage. This is a perfectly balanced production.

Next Act's Production of Murderers runs through Dec. 14 at the Off-Broadway Theatre.