Thompson Playhouse is gearing up for Murdered to Death, their first major stage production since 2008's Dracula, which will see two performances at the Letkemann Theatre.
"A comedy whodunit with a bumbling inspector" is how co-producer Wally Itson describes the show. "It's a spoof on Agatha Christie," adds Donna Wilson, the other co-producer.
"They've been rehearsing since the spring," says Wilson of the Murdered to Death cast, which features provincial court Judge Brian Colli as the Keystone Kop-like Insp. Pratt, Crown attorney Richard Smith as a "story-telling has-been named Col. Craddock," Kevin Hopton as Const. Thompkins, Shannon Ethier as Mildred Bagshot, whom Wilson calls "the hostess with a secret," Penny Byer as Craddock's wife, Katy Sweet as amateur detective Miss Maple, Leigha Mellish as Dorothy, Robyn Foley as a socialite, and Ingrid Both as a French art dealer, all under the watchful eye of rookie director Sue Colli.
"Sue Colli is the director, and she rehearses them," explains Wilson. "Wally and I will show up every now and then to see how things are going, but we're not at all the rehearsals." Maria Hughes had been the longtime director of all Playhouse productions before retiring to Southern Ontario in the first half of 2009.
"We needed somebody to take over - Sue said she'd give it a try, and she's doing a really good job," continues Wilson. Colli is a longtime member of the Playhouse board, and also worked as the stage manager for Dracula.
Everyone involved with the production - from actors to stage crew to organizers - is volunteering their time. "We've got people building props, David Boyce and the drama department at the high school have been a huge help with building props, and they're going to be doing the lighting and sound that night," says Wilson.
"This is our second time for doing tryouts," explains Wilson. "Before, we would just get members of the Playhouse assigned parts to people who wanted to be in it, and then for Dracula, I thought 'why don't we actually do tryouts like they do in the bigger cities?' Sure enough, people came and tried out, it was great. That way you get a variety of casts instead of the same people all the time." Wilson is also quick to point out that "Brian Colli is so good that he always gets in. He's amazing." Colli performed a snippet of the play at 2009's Beer & Skits, giving those who attended that event a sneak peek at what to expect from the full production.
"It's a lot of hard work over a long period of time by a lot of people," says Itson of what goes into each Playhouse production. "It's supporting the community, and it's good for the community." "It supports community theatre," agrees Wilson. "If people don't come out to things like this, then we can't afford to do the next one, that's how we make our money."
Set in a country manor house in the 1930s, Murdered to Death was created by Peter Gordon, an English playwright best known for the Inspector Pratt trilogy, of which Murdered to Death is the first part. It has been portrayed in more than 600 productions worldwide.
There will be two performances of Murdered to Death at the Letkemann Theatre on consecutive weekend nights - Nov. 26 and 27, with both shows starting at 7 p.m. sharp. Tickets are available around town, through Playhouse board members, and at the door, all for $10. "Instead of having different prices for adults and children and seniors, we just rounded it out to $10 for everybody, across the board," explains Wilson.
