Joe Clabby, Rebecca Del Sesto, Meghan Lewis and Dani Thompson (Photo by Doug Engalla)
Reviewed by Iris Mann
Group Rep
Through September 8
RECOMMENDED
Mystery writer Agatha Christie has been called “the Queen of Crime,” a designation now trademarked by her estate. She wrote sixty-six novels and some fourteen short story collections. More than two billion of her novels have been sold, and Guinness World Records has named her the best-selling fiction writer of all time. Her works have been adapted for film, television and radio.
Christie also wrote some thirty-three plays, one of which, The Mousetrap, is the longest running play in history, having opened in 1952, closed in 2020 because of Covid, and reopened in 2021. One year prior to The Mousetrap, in 1951, Murder After Hours (the title under which the Group Rep’s production is running), opened. At that time, the play was called The Hollow, a reference to the country house in which the action takes place. The show was considered a success, enjoying a run of more than eleven months.
Under Jules Aaron’s seamlessly polished direction, the current offering sparkles as it rolls along at a brisk pace. The production definitively displays many of the signature characteristics of Christie’s writing. It deals with the British upper-middle class; it is a whodunit with several possible suspects; and it is one of Christie’s “lighthearted thrillers,” as she has described her writings, with a good many comedic lines. It also includes very believable characters, and there is a simplicity to the action and the very conversational dialogue. Although this particular scenario may not be as tightly suspenseful as, for example, Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution, it has a very effective, unexpected ending.
The play, billed as “part Downton Abbey, part Noel Coward,” centers around a weekend party at the country estate of Sir Henry Angkatell (John Combs) and his wife, Lady Lucy Angkatell (Dani Thompson). The party includes cousins Henrietta Angkatell (Meghan Lewis), a sculptor, Edward Angkatell (Joe Clabby), and Midge Harvey (Rebecca Del Sesto), a poor relation. Rounding out the weekend gathering are their friends, John Cristow (Jason Culp), an eminent doctor, and his devoted wife, Gerda (Roslyn Cohn). Suddenly, beautiful movie star Veronica Craye (Gina Yates), who was engaged to the doctor ten years prior, and who has taken a house down the lane, appears at the door asking for some matches.
The doctor secretly spends most of that night with Veronica, but, though she wants them each to divorce their spouses and marry, he refuses. Furious, she says that, if she can’t have him, nobody will. The situation is complicated by a love triangle. Midge loves Edward, who loves Henrietta, who is having an affair with the doctor. Soon after Veronica and John part, he is shot and killed by someone unseen. Thus begins the whodunit aspect of the story.
Aaron has assembled a first-rate cast. Thompson is a standout as the seemingly eccentric and somewhat addled Lady Lucy, who is really deceptively canny. The character provides much of the play’s humor, as when the police are called to investigate the shooting, and Lady Lucy, thrilled by all the intensity surrounding the events, announces, “This is my first murder.”
Clabby does finely-tuned work as the awkward, insecure Edward. The actor’s quaint physicality enhances the overall impression of a very inward and somewhat peculiar man. As the self-effacing doctor’s wife, Cohn also projects an air of deep insecurity and painful shyness. She has created a character who is obviously difficult to be with for long periods of time, and her transitions from one emotional state to another are admirably accomplished.
As the movie star, Yates lends a certain glamour to the proceedings and is, totally and deliciously, the self-centered, demanding diva. Culp is another very attractive presence and embodies the quintessential ladies’ man who, in this case, also feels put upon. And Lewis, as his lover, with no illusions about their relationship, gives a particularly strong performance.
Michael Robb plays the snobbish butler, Gudgeon, and maintains a pompous expression throughout that is priceless, while Megan Deford is delightful as the maid, Doris, who doesn’t have quite the background or training to satisfy Gudgeon. Combs is every inch the country gentleman, and Del Sesto is particularly grounded and sympathetic as the family’s poor cousin that has to work for a living.
Completing the exceptional cast are Chris Winfield (who also designed the splendid set) and Patrick Anthony as the two police officers investigating the murder, each the distinct opposite of the other, in finely honed performances.
Kudos also to dialect coach Linda Brennen for helping the cast maintain flawless and consistent British accents.
The Group Rep, the Lonny Chapman Theatre, 10900 Burbank Blvd., N. Hollywood; Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 2 pm; thru Sept. 8. www.thegrouprep.com – Running time, 2 hours, with one intermission.
