Photo Credit: George Katsekes Jr.
Sunset Playhouse presents Ken Ludwig’s whodunnit comedy The Game’s Afoot. The dynamic energy absent from the script of this somewhat tangled murder mystery doesn’t stop the show’s director, Carol Dolphin, and her ensemble from having a reasonably good time with an alternative to traditional Christmas shows.
The show is set in 1936. A poised Paul Weir plays successful stage actor William Gillette, injured in an attempted murder at the closing of his latest Sherlock Holmes show. He has invited a number of people to a secluded estate in order to solve the mystery of who tried to take his life. Joan End brings reserved, stately poise to the role of his mother, Martha, there to greet the guests from the theatrical world, including ingenue Aggie Wheeler, played with subtle intricacy by Emma Losey.
When one of the guests is killed, real-life Police Inspector Goring arrives to help solve the murder. Susan Zuem lends comic appeal to the show in the role of Goring, but by the time she shows up, it’s already too late. The ensemble manages some moments of comedy as a group of passionate actors trying to deal with a very real crisis, but Ludwig doesn’t live up to the potential of the premise. Neither the actors in the script, nor the actors playing those actors onstage, are given much of an opportunity to make much of the situation.
Through Dec. 22 at Furlan Auditorium, 700 Wall St., Elm Grove.
