Everyone wants publicity, daaahlings. Even the bad kind is the good kind, because any kind beats no kind, right? Lucky for Thomas “Toby” Hessenauer and the company of Ken Ludwig’s The Game’s Afoot it’s the good kind. Mostly. I’m no Daria Chase, daaahlings, but for God’s sake, I am a theatre critic. Launching the ‘upstairs’ half of the upstairs-downstairs-summertime-palooza that we all know to be Cockpit in Court, this zany little Baskerville-wannabe is two parts mystery, one part comedy, and all parts good fun. It’s the perfect little outing for those looking for something a little more devious and sinister than the big splashy musical thing on the downstairs stage.
Where to begin…where to begin…how about the beginning? Or at least the backdrop? Set Designer Diane M. Smith (working with Scenic Artist Jessica Rassp) has laid out one of the more, if not the most, ambitious sets for the ‘cabaret’ space that I’ve ever seen. The standard cross-agonal runaways that each lead to a door or window (entrance/exit) are a given, but Smith has gone not one, not two, but three steps above and beyond this layout. There’s an extra backing wall, complete with a mini-staircase that creates the illusion of the lavish home of William Gillette. And one of the standard cross-bar points on the X-shaped stage is a full-on rotating panel/secret-chamber-room, which spins (shoutout to Stage Manager John Chrzanowski and the run-crew) at the pull of a level to take the ‘wall-of-weapons’ to a backroom bar. Rassp and Smith create a lavish interior, decorated with that posh flare that speaks of old 1930’s money.
The show’s lighting is pretty spot-on (though there’s no spot-light in this space) and ultimately works for what it’s trying to achieve. Lighting Designer Thomas P. Gardner brings the thunder, so to speak, whenever he’s adding a ‘lightning’ effect. It’s a Sherlock Holmesian thriller-comedy, of course there’s going to be a thunderstorm. TD Jason Randolph, (this critic’s best guess for who gets sound-design credit/blame) has a bit of a circus-style balancing act on his hands. The rumbling thunder, though at times a bit intense, a bit long, and a bit much, for the most point is effective. And the pickup from the drop-mics (a solid use of microphone tech in this particular space) is well-managed. The barking dog, gunshots, and phone ringing sound-effects are less impressive.
Now, here comes the moment where Daria Chase could step in and really rip into some of the details of certain aspects of the design work. But there’s something to be said for balanced praise-question-polish approach. With an intimate play-space, like the X-cross of the upstairs cabaret in which The Game’s Afoot is currently playing, and the audience right on top of the players, you can see everything. And this becomes a point worthy of consideration when creating the details of the show’s sartorial selection. Costume Designer Lizzie Jaspan has some real hits and a few misses in this department, though her misses ultimately aren’t enough to detract from or destroy the enjoyment of the show as a whole, but are things for consideration come future opportunities. The striking dress featured on Daria Chase when she arrives is stellar and Jaspan does a fantastical job making that particular costume stab-worthy (not to put too fine a point…or a magnet on it.) The purple and gold dresses seen on two of the other female characters, while very sparkly and close to period, have noticeable hem-work and catches that make them appear unfinished (it’s made apparent in the second act that the gold dress in particular is designed in such a way to have a rip-apart high-seam that just didn’t close/stay closed very well in the first act, though given it’s such a brief moment, it begs the question if such a costume-modification is even necessary.) This minor details wouldn’t even be noticed if this particular show were on a bigger stage where the audience is further away from the performers, and again Jaspan’s work overall is praiseworthy, it’s just worth noting that attention to detail is critical for this particularly intimate venue.
Ken Ludwig’s style lampoons the Sherlock Holmesian style thrillers while adding that farcical component to the mix, making for a thoroughly quirky, wonky, and entertaining theatrical experience. Director Thomas “Toby” Hessenauer brings together a cast of eight performers and you get a pretty solid afternoon/evening (depending on when you attend) outing from their combined efforts, give or take a few minor bumps along the way. The show, for the most part, moves steadily. There are times, however, when the dialogue exchange needs to be tighter, happening with a more severe urgency, and a keener sense of intensity driving the conversation. This only noticeable a few times during the performance but noticeable all the same.
There’s also something to be said for audible-constructs in relation to the story’s setting. I for one am always in favor of the— “if you can’t consistently and correctly deliver an accent/affecation/etc. then don’t do it”—approach. And that appears to be the approach that Hessenauer has taken. However both the performers playing Daria Chase and the performer playing Aggie Wheeler, and to a lesser degree the performer playing Inspector Goring, have a felicitous knack for delivering the general cadence and patois of Broadway circa the 1930’s. You can just hear that ever so slight hysterical trans-Atlantic thing lilting through the Aggie Wheeler character, and the ball-busting ‘woman of the times’ thing slamming its way through the Daria Chase character. And these are amazing things to hear, but it does make the other performers sound like they’re performing from a more modern setting. Which admittedly gives the play this “half in the 1930’s and half in the 2020’s” feel, which actually is bizarrely intriguing, though I’m not sure that effect was intentional. At any rate, the performers keep the show moving, and Hessenauer has some pretty solid performers on his hands, making the comedy land and that’s what counts in a show that’s one-half humor and one-half thriller. (On that note, would somebody please peel the label off of the séance candle-jar? It leans too far toward 2023.)
To say that the actor playing Felix Geisel (Lenny Taube) is a lump of roast beef would just be cold. Though Taube is bordering on “glazed ham” with his spastic and hilarious over-the-top animated facial expressions. It’s a thriller-killer kind of show, so inevitably when a body(bodies) drop, there’s going to be a reaction and Taube wins “reactor of the show” with those wild and crazy eyes delivering so much panic, particularly when the spinning-wonder-wall goes awry. Taube’s interactions with William Gillette (Paul Norfolk), particularly when they’re playing the pantomime-mime-blame-game with one another, are top notch and the pair actually drive that scene— featuring Inspector Goran— with enthusiastic gusto. To Taube’s versatile credit, you also get to see an ominous, even— *gasp* murderous— sobriety to his character, just near the end of the first act. Several people have “be-seen-with” moments with one of the character’s that’s about to bite the dust and when Taube delivers his… you get the spooky chills, which really do make you wonder if the comic veneer he’s wearing might just be a façade for his darker intentions.
Paul Norfolk plays William Gillette, the figurehead of the acting ‘troupe’ (yes, the show opens with the infamous “play within a play” moment, which actually features a faux chase between Norfolk as Holmes and Taube as Undertaker Sowerberry Moriarty, and the pair are quite entertaining to watch!) Norfolk has the audience convinced that even when he’s merely being eccentric, he’s fully committed to his own delusion of actually being Sherlock Holmes. The way he perpetually dismisses the Inspector is quite hilarious on its own and a nice sprightly response to some of Taube’s more deadpan zingers. Norfolk has ‘master host’ as a character cloak which he keeps draped around his person at all times, whether he’s attempting to unravel the actual murder & mystery occurring in his house or merely just playing “the host.”
You get two side-along characters in Ludwig’s narrative. Poor Madge (Regina Rose), who is the married accoutrement to the excitable Felix. And blithering Simon (Robert Emmett Dunham IV), who is somehow the reverse-incarnation of Into The Woods’ Mysterious Man. (think the opposite of “…when first I appear I seem delirious, but when explained I’m nothing serious.”) Rose, who has her moment in the spotlight— or in this case the black-light— gets all eyes on her during the séance while Dunham IV sort of drifts in and out like scenery… right up until he doesn’t. They’re both solid additions to the cast.
Though you only get to encounter Inspector Goran (Sam David) from the second half of the show onward, David makes her mark on the boards. Half Miss Marple, half Inspector Goon a la Enid Blyton’s Adventure Series, and all business with her brusque attitude, David’s jolly jokes land intentionally stiff, really giving you that “is this Inspector for real?” vibe. David, whose primary interactions happen with Watson & Holmes… I mean Gillette and Geisel— ah, sod it, Norfolk and Taube (that’s the ticket!) holds her own against these archetypal characters and does a thumping good job of almost not-quite solving the mystery, as any British Inspector so often does in these sorts of stories.
Bringing all the quirky hilarity of a super-spiked Christmas punch, Joan Croaks tackles the role of Martha Gillette, Will’s off-kilter mother, with zany and vigorous aplomb. It’s easy to just play Martha as the doddering, elderly mother-figure. And Crooks does that. In places. In other moments she’s this deliciously vengeful and overly protective matriarch ready to let all hell break loose to protect her son. Crooks balances the doddering with the damning in a blissful and hilarious fashion. Crooks keeps you guessing with her character from beginning to end and it’s a wild ride trying to figure out whether or not she’s in her right mind or she’s rightfully of a mind for murder.
The two leading ladies, Aggie Wheeler (Jessie Duggan) and Daria Chase (Sarah Ford), are absolutely the bees’ knees. Well, one is a spitfire, lock-n-loaded, Smith&Wesson .22 caliber pistol and the other is a glittery, golden, starry-eyed diva-turned-disaster. You can decide which is which. Duggan and Ford both have a keen understanding of how the 1930’s sounds sliding over text and the pair of them deliver this sound divinely. Duggan, as Aggie, has mastered that petulant-but-not-serious whine when it comes to making just a teeny bit of a fuss and is the epitome of a 1930’s gal of the Great White Way. Ford, as the scathing Daria Chase, is sensational hellfire incarnate. Physicalizing and vocalizing the epitome of “Sorry-Not-Sorry”, Ford’s Daria is both saucy and scintillating and she struts into the Gillette household like she owns the place. Watching her physical antics in the second act is a real scream, while watching Duggan’s Aggie unravel near the show’s end is equally entertaining.
The word madhouse doesn’t begin to describe the insane amount of fun you’ll have trying to be like Holmes yourself and figure out the mystery as you go along. Don’t miss The Game’s Afoot this summer with Cockpit and Court, it’s truly a killer show.
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes with one intermission
The Game’s Afoot plays through June 25th 2023 with Cockpit in Court in the upstairs Cabaret Space of The Robert and Eleanor Romadka College Center at the Community College of Baltimore County Essex Campus— 7201 Rossville Boulevard, Essex MD. For tickets call the box office at (443) 840-2787 or purchase them online.
