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The second show of Community Players 89th season is Ken Ludwig's
mystery "Postmortem". It is a mystery set in April, 1922, the
cast of William Gillette's latest Broadway revival of "Sherlock
Holmes" has assembled for a weekend of relaxation at his
magnificent medieval castle overlooking the Connecticut River.
For entertainment, Gillette, best known for his thirty year
portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, has arranged a séance. Now the
scene is set for his greatest role. The show contains sleuthing,
rain storm, thunder and lightening, a deathbed letter,
gunshots and bottles bashed over the head. Someone is trying to
murder Gillette. He suspects it is one of his guests and he
plans to solve the case himself-a' la Sherlock Holmes. Gillette
must solve the murder of his fiancé, Maude one year to the day
after her death. The play is a mixture of Conan Doyle and part
Agatha Christie. Veteran director Cait Calvo casts her 8
character mystery wonderfully. Her hard working cast
is rewarded with many gasps of astonishment along the way at all
the twists and turns of the story.
Although the first act takes awhile to set the scene, it ends
with mysterious shots in the night. The second act sees more
action with the mystery finally unraveling at the end of the
show. Emily Varden is the hard working stage manager who keeps
the cast on their toes. The splendid two story castle set is by
Victor Turenne with stone work and Maude's portrait by John
Ricci while Pam Jackson gathered many authentic 1920 period
dresses for the women.. Dan Fisher designed the multitude of
sound effects and was supposed to play Bobby in the show but
broke his leg accidentally. The lighting is by Mitch Ost.
Leading the cast is Michael Thurber who plays William Gillette.
He commands the stage as this larger than life character.
He also does a Scottish brogue at the start of the show.) Bruce
Church plays Gillette's brother-in-law, Leo Barrett and
is Holmes' nemesis Moriarty while Patricia Luca plays his wife,
Marian. They have scenes bickering with each other and Marian is
jealous of Louise. Sarah Nicklin a gorgeous brunette, plays May
Dison, an ingénue with a mind of her own while Tom
Lavallee plays Bobby Carlyle, an actor and "man about town".
They have many scenes together, keeping the audience on the edge
of their seats. Lee Rush is spectacular as Louise Parradine, an
exotic, diverse former actress. Lee shows what an excellent
character actress is, stealing many a scene. Claire Beauregard
returns to the stage in triumph as Gillette's aunt, Lily Warner
who dotes on her worried nephew. Her funniest line is when she
tells the guests "William liked to put on a dress when he was a
boy and I thought he was a transvestite." To reveal any more
details would spoil this whodunnit for the audience.
So for a whirlwind of intrigue, be sure to catch
"Postmortem".
POSTMORTEM ( 22 to 31 January, 2010)
The Community Players, Jenks
Auditorium, Division Street, Pawtucket, RI
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