Let me preface this review with the following – I’m no stranger to this particular play. In fact, I’ve seen it three times now, including this run. It’s a solid fact that this show is my favorite play, with witty dialogue and jokes, zany and compelling characters, and a bit of slapstick. Set in the 1950’s McCarthyism period, it’s simply good entertainment. Everyone’s heard of the board game, and some people know the 1985 movie version with Tim Curry, but I believe everyone would enjoy seeing this particular piece of theatre. If that previous comment didn’t tell you, Sun Prairie Civic Theatre’s production of Clue was utterly phenomenal.
Sun Prairie Civic Theatre is a community theatre in Sun Prairie which has been operating since 1970. They perform a number of plays, musicals, and children’s theatrical performances, and over that time, have completed over 250 shows. I had no previous knowledge of them; I discovered their show from a poster at a supermarket.
Clue tells the story of a dinner party hosted by Mr. Boddy at his manor, where he has invited six colorful individuals to discuss a longstanding financial liability he has imposed on them. Boddy, a renegade McCarthyist, had been blackmailing the guests for what he considered “un-American” activities they had committed. He tells them to kill his butler, Wadsworth, the only other person who knows of their misdeeds, with the famous weapons from the game he provides to them: a wrench, a lead pipe, a candlestick, a rope, a dagger, and a revolver. When Boddy ends up dead, it leads to a string of deaths and plenty of top-notch comedy. McCarthyism was an ideology conjured up by junior Senator Joseph McCarthy to eradicate Communism in America by blacklisting and convicting people associated with the state, in the entertainment industry, radicals, and more people, including average citizens. It was a time where neighbors didn’t trust each other and criticism of those in power was highly dangerous – essentially, a time that Clue thrives in… How apropos, no?
Getting to the actual review section of the review, the show was extremely well done. Everything was well made, from the brilliant costumes (particularly Mr. Green’s since in a lot of productions, surprisingly, many don’t have him wearing a green suit) to the pleasantly flexible set to showcase the many rooms of Boddy manor. The lighting that highlighted the parts of the stage in the colors of each of the suspects was a delightful addition. There were some ingenious use of props in the show, such as the utilization of Prof. Plum’s pipe as various medical instruments to Mrs. Peacock’s flask, which is funny in itself due to her telling the maid, Yvette, that she doesn’t drink.
As for the actors, their performances stole the show. These characters require a vast amount of analysis since they each are so distinctive and difficult in their own right. I have never seen a cast commit to their roles like this. All of the actors conveyed their characters even when not speaking. A great example of this was the actress who played Ms. Scarlett. She committed to her flirtatious, wise-cracking, and acerbic portrayal of the character despite the actions of the other characters, staying in character in everything she did. Professor Plum and Mrs. Peacock did a wonderful job of acting incredibly unhinged and eccentric with their over-the-top performances (with him acting like a comedically sleazy, full of himself intellectual, and her being loud and quickly intense, to my delight). Mr. Green and Mrs. White had some very difficult characters, because they were more discreet and less expressive, except for Green’s nervousness and White’s famous “flames…” monologue. I was impressed by their skill of being able to make the characters so charismatic and interesting, and their acting choices were commendable. Wadsworth, the butler, and Colonel Mustard were a perfect combination for laughs in the movie as well, because of Colonel Mustard’s lack of understanding of the situation and Wadsworth’s witty expertise to juxtapose it. In this production I was not let down by Mustard’s seemingly out-of-nowhere comments that left the theatre rolling; his timing was perfect. And Wadsworth was immersed in the role, being perfectly poised, panicked, wacky, aggravating, and arrogant, he was a joy to watch. Yvette and the Cook gave a pleasant performance despite having a shorter time on stage, with Yvette donning a stunning French accent. Mr. Boddy, the Motorist, the Unexpected Cop, the Singing Telegram Girl, and the Chief of Police were perfect for the moments they were in the show.
All in all the show was probably the best version of Clue I’ve seen as of now. The run of the show is over now, but I would highly encourage looking into what Sun Prairie Civic Theatre has to offer in the future!
