The Game's Afoot by Landmark Community Theatre - My Review

I went to the Thomaston Opera House knowing little about Ken Ludwig's The Game's Afoot. I did remember that Mr. Ludwig also wrote the very funny Lend Me a Tenor that I had seen in Goshen as well as The Fox on the Fairway that had been produced at the Clockwork Rep. This fictional play with Connecticut ties is a mystery set mostly in Gillette Castle near East Haddam in 1936 and features actor William Gillette, famous for his stage persona of Sherlock Holmes, and his mother Martha; there is even a reference to the Palace Theater in NY. It is the second show directed by Eric Wilczak, who sat in the director's chair for the first time ever for last year's Rumors. He admitted to being a little intimidated by the prospect of directing this particular murder mystery with local ties, but I felt that he rose to the challenge quite nicely. It was nice to see him walking around the house greeting patrons. He thanks his parents in the program for giving him the gift of theater. "It has been the best part of my life (I promise I'll call more!)"

This "comedy thriller" whodunit," also called "murderous pandemonium," has plenty of double-cross, gunplay, lies, deceit and disguise. The matinee audience for which I had complimentary seats had plenty to laugh at during this wild ride, while they simultaneously attempted to follow the clues and figure out which of characters was the culprit. For the record, I was completely wrong.

The drawing room set was cleverly designed by Mr. Wilczak and built by a crew led by Wes Baldwin and NVCC student Peter Bard, although it is not intended to look like the inside of the actual Gillette's Castle. Kelli Consonni had to secure some pretty impressive props, but a few of them fell to the floor during the matinee for no apparent reason. Dan Checovetes had to design some pretty tricky lighting cues.

Period costumes by Barbara Piscopo were well done and added value to each of these well-drawn and colorful characters that have been invited to the eccentric castle for the weekend. The majority of them are actors and they seldom let the audience forget it. Rob Richnavsky and Chris Pytiak shared the role of fight choreographer and it was easy to see why their consultation was needed.

The aforementioned William Gillette was played by David Macharelli, a scenic artist who has always wanted to try onstage performance. He turned in a fine one in this "more than a cameo" role.  Mrs. Gillette is played to perfection by the wonderful Jane Coughlin from Litchfield.  Frank Beaudry of Oakville (Lenny in Rumors) played Gillette's friend Felix Geisel; this actor made fantastic use of his gift for physical comedy His wife Madge was played by Shannon Sniffin of Waterbury who returned to the stage after a long hiatus. I look forward to seeing her in future roles. Meghan Rickard, making her TOH debut, played houseguest Aggie Wheeler and young NVCC graduate Morgan Morse played Simon Bright; both did a fine job with their roles.

Snooty theater reviewer (no offense taken) Daria Chase was so well-played by Nicole Thomas of Torrington (Chris Gorman in Rumors) that it was hard to like the character. The excellent Janice Connor of Goshen (but originally from Suffolk England) didn't hit the stage until the second act as Inspector Goring, but was memorable nonetheless.

As soon as the house opens, the master of the organ Juan Cordova, Jr. of Newtown entertains the assembling audience with classics on the beautiful theatre pipe organ. He is beginning his 22nd year as the volunteer staff organist at the TOH. What a pleasure it was to hear it outside the town hall as I headed toward the entrance later than I usually do.

I enjoyed this production and I would recommend it to fans of both mystery and comedy. Kudos to the director and the members of his talented cast.