[NEohioPAL] Berko review: THE GAME'S AFOOT @ Cleveland Play House

[Roy Berko]

THE
GAME’S AFOOT delights at CPH
 
Roy Berko
 
Member, American Theatre Critics Association
 
--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--
LORAIN COUNTY
TIMES--WESTLAKER TIMES--LAKEWOOD NEWS TIMES--OLMSTED-FAIRVIEW TIMES
 
--COOLCLEVELAND.COM—
 
How often does a theatre extend the run of a show before it even
opens?  Well, since pre-sales were
so strong, the Cleveland Play House has added a week of stagings for their
world premiere of Ken Ludwig’s THE GAME’S AFOOT (or Holmes For the
Holidays).  
It appears that the doomsayers, who said that the move to downtown
would bring about the demise of CPH, were very wrong!  So far, the opening season has been an artistic and financial
success, and the company’s next show, TEN CHIMNEYS, will inaugurate a new
theatre, The Second Stage.  It will
the first CPH show that has ever been presented in the round.
Ludwig is a well known playwright whose musical, CRAZY FOR YOU, ran
over four years on Broadway and in London.  In addition, he wrote the oft produced LEND ME A TENOR.  He’s also the scribe of MOON OVER
BUFFALO, TWENTIETH CENTURY and THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER.  
Ludwig’s THE GAME’S AFOOT is billed as a comedy thriller in which we
meet famed stage actor William Gillette at his Connecticut home, recovering
from an attempt on his life during the curtain call of his renowned play,
SHERLOCK HOLMES.  Several weeks
later he invites the members of the cast and a reporter/critic who is doing a
story about him, to spend the holidays in the elaborate home occupied by
Gillette and his mother.  The
castle-like structure is filled with electronic gadgets and hidden rooms.  It’s a perfect place for an Agatha
Christie-type mystery. 
Of course there is a murder and the fun real begins.  
More farce than comedy, there are enough early hints of “who did it” so
that the revelation of the killer isn’t a great mystery, but the fun is so
sharply developed through prat falls, exaggerated situations, and over done
shticks, that the whole darn thing works well.
William Hooker Gillette was, in fact, a famous actor in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who is best remembered for his
enactments of Sherlock Holmes.  He
was a proponent of grand stage designs and added many special sound and
lighting effects into his productions.  His wearing of a deerstalker cap and the smoking of a large curved pipe,
became the visual pattern for all who were to play Holmes in other plays,
movies and on television.  A
life-long resident of Connecticut, he actually built a grand castle-like home
in that state that is still open for tours.
CPH’s production, under the direction of Aaron Posner, is a
delight.  
The cast is wonderful.  The
well-paced timing keys the laughs. Daniel Conway’s set is so impressive that
spontaneous applause broke out when it was first revealed.  Thom Weaver’s lighting effects,
especially the falling snow and quick blackouts, and James Swonger’s sound effects,
all added to the wonderment, though one might wonder, besides trying to create
a spooky effect, why there was booming thunder during a snow storm.  But, that matters little.  This is a farce more concerned with
affect then effect.
Donald Sage Mackay is Holmes. His tall, lanky physique, pointed nose,
and Holmesian attitude are all spot on.  Patricia Kilgarriff is a hoot as his curmudgeon mother, who almost kills
their dog in her attempt to punish Daria Chase (Erika Rolfsrud) the bad, bad
lady theatre critic.  
(Why is it that at present there are two shows running in the area
which damn theatre critics…this production and Ensemble’s AT NICHOLAS?  We are kind hearted people who even
give positive reviews to plays that damn us!)  
Back to the cast.  Rolfsrud
makes for a great villain.  She
even got some complimentary boos during the curtain call.  It’s amazing she isn’t all black and
blue from the slamming down and around that happens to her.
Sarah Day is delightful as mannish Inspector, Harriet Gorin.  She’s Miss Marple (The Agatha Christie
character) and Jessica Fletcher (MURDER, SHE WROTE) all rolled into one.  
Rob McClure is boyish ingénue-right as Simon Bright.  Though she physically fits the role of
the blonde innocent, Aggie Wheeler, Mattie Hawkinson’s high pitched voice
becomes grating after a while.
Lise Bruneau (Madge Geisel) and Eric Hissom (Felix Geisel) are fine as
a bickering couple.  
Capsule judgement: THE GAME’S AFOOT is a perfect holiday treat that will
delight audiences.  It’s a go-see
fun evening of theatre.
the game’s afootplays through December 24 at
the Allen Theatre, the new home of the Cleveland Play House.  For tickets call 216-795-7000 or go to
clevelandplayhouse.com.
 
Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info.  His reviews can also be found on www.coolcleveland.com and www.NeOHIOpal, while special features appear at http://artsamerica.org.
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