Play based on the classic board game comes to Mount Tabor
There is skullduggery afoot when six mysterious guests are invited to a dinner party at a remote mansion. They are greeted by the butler, who notes they have all been given pseudonyms to hide their identities and who assures them that their host will join them soon. A tangled web of deceit links all of them, including the maid and the cook. Their host, the presciently named Mr. Boddy, joins them during dinner and presents each of them with a weapon—a revolver, a dagger, a rope, a candlestick, a lead pipe and a wrench— and exhorts them to murder the butler to protect their secrets. The lights go out and a shot is heard. Thus begins a madcap evening of murder and mayhem, brought to the Mount Tabor stage by Prince Edward Community Theatre (PECT). The play, Clue: On Stage, is based on the 1985 movie Clue, inspired by the classic board game. The cast of characters is well known: Wadsworth (the butler), Miss Scarlet, Colonel Mustard, Mr. Green, Professor Plum, Mrs. White, Mrs. Peacock, Yvette the maid, and The Cook. They are brought to life (and sometimes, death) on the Mount Tabor stage by a mix of veteran community theatre players and newcomers.
Jaye Snyder is making their directorial debut with this play. They have been involved in County community theatre for over 20 years, most recently appearing in Crimes of the Heart. Jaye recently joined the PECT board and took on the position of Audience Relations Manager, with front of house duties. They also did some backstage work and was assistant director for last spring’s Two in the Aisle, Three in the Van. When this play was chosen on the schedule, Jaye jumped at the opportunity to direct it. “I loved the board game, I love the movie. I stood up and said I’d direct because this is something that had to happen,” they said. It has been a challenge to direct a play with so many different scenes on the small stage at Mount Tabor. There is a fair bit of the cast all exiting one door, a quick scene change by the crew, before the cast reenters through a different door. The rising body count in the play presented its own problem. “It’s been a challenge to choreograph the safe movement of bodies,” said Jaye.
One of the new cast members is Nicki Ramjass, who plays Mrs. White. She has done some onscreen acting in Toronto and appeared in radio plays on CountyFM. This is her first onstage performance. She heard about the play from Jaye, who is her neighbour as well as a work colleague at Base31, and decided to take part. “The one thing I noticed about community theatre here was that it was so much fun,” she said. The challenge for her has been to remember all of her lines. “It helped to write all of my lines together, separate from the rest of the script. A long rehearsal time really helped me. But once we got on stage and you can get movement with your lines, then you can attach them to something,” she said. Another newcomer is Tomas Crossley, who plays Colonel Mustard. “I’m really excited to be on stage. It feels really good. This is something totally out of the ordinary for me,” he said. He added that he sometimes finds it difficult to keep a straight face during rehearsals. “I have some of the sillier lines, and it’s a bit of a dumb character who provides some comic relief.” Don Leslie plays the notorious Mr. Boddy, as well as two other characters. He had a part in Anne of Green Gables at Mount Tabor and says this is a totally different experience than the musical. He was impressed by the degree of professionalism at all stages of this production, from early rehearsals at Bethany Church in Bloomfield right up to rehearsals on the Mount Tabor stage. “We started in August, and that was a lot of lead time. Right from the beginning, the way we worked through all of the scenes at Bethany Church before we got to Mount Tabor, they were mapping out on the floor, marking which door to go in and out of. For a community theatre, there was just that kind of professional attitude that everyone has their roles to play, and that was really helpful for me,” he said.
Story and Photo by Ramesh Pooran