Who dun it? Or, better put, who’s imagining who dun it? That’s the central question in Lucille Fletcher’s mystery, Night Watch. Did troubled, neurotic heiress Emily Wheeler (Jackie Benka) really see a dead man’s body through the window of her art-laden townhouse? (No Rear Window here; these are very close buildings in the sketchy Kips Bay section of Manhattan). Or, is she being tormented by her husband, John (Mark Wyss), who’s having an affair with her best friend and nurse, Blanche (Sandra Wyss)?
And then there’s that snoopy maid, Helga (Karen Maio), with the highly questionable German accent. During the production, Elaine sees yet a second body through the same window—this time a woman slumped in a chair before the shade comes down. All within 24 hours. What’s a woman with all that money and time on her hands to do? Well, for starters accuse everyone around her, including the neighborhood deli guy (Clayton Mortl), constantly bother the police—who find nothing— until she agrees to visit a clinic in Switzerland at her husband’s constant “urging.”
The cast makes the most of a script that doesn’t quite add up until the last few minutes of the play. It’s a clever premise and certainly one that we don’t see coming. Acting standouts include Mark Wyss as the “concerned” husband who manages to subtly convey his growing frustration and spousal concern while carrying on with his wife’s “best friend.”
Through Nov. 18 at the Village Playhouse, 1500 S. 73rd St. For tickets, visit villageplayhouse.org.
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