KEN LUDWIG’S “THE GAME’S AFOOT”: Performances are underway for Princeton Summer Theater’s production of Ken Ludwig’s “The Game’s Afoot.” Directed by Wasif Sami, the play runs through July 19 at Princeton University’s Hamilton Murray Theater. Above: Inspector Goring (Emmie Collins, left) attempts to solve a murder that has taken place at the home of actor William Gillette (Lana Gaige, right), but the latter, who portrays Sherlock Holmes, thinks he can find the culprit on his own. (Photo by Lucy Shea)
By Donald H. Sanborn III
If “Christmas in July” works for the Hallmark Channel, apparently it also suits theater companies.
Princeton Summer Theater (PST) is continuing its season with Ken Ludwig’s The Game’s Afoot. Subtitled Holmes for the Holidays, the comic murder mystery takes place at a Christmas party given by an eccentric actor.
A holiday setting is apparent before the performance starts. Immediately we see Jeff Van Velsor’s ravishing, elaborately furnished set, which includes bright red flowers and a prominently displayed Christmas tree. (Costume Designer Susan McLernon complements this, outfitting one guest with a red dress, another with a green one.)
The Game’s Afoot premiered in 2011 at the Cleveland Play House. Mystery Writers of America awarded the play the Edgar Allen Poe Award (the “Edgar”) for the Best Mystery Play of 2012. Wasif Sami deftly directs the currently running PST production.
The play is set in 1936. The play depicts an actor, William Gillette (played by Lana Gaige) who has made a career out of portraying Sherlock Holmes – and believes that he has the famous literary sleuth’s abilities.
Gillette is based on a real actor (with the same name), who did play Holmes both on stage and in a silent film. However, Ludwig’s script is entirely a work of fiction. Gillette (1853-1937) was 83 at the time the play takes place, while the character seems to be in his late forties or early fifties.
The Game’s Afoot opens with a play within a play; we see Gillette portraying Holmes. There is no change in scenery from Gillette’s spacious living room (though Lighting Designer Florencia Curchitser darkens it to focus on the actors). It is tempting to see this as a blurring of the Holmes play and Gillette’s “reality.”
While giving a post-performance speech Gillette notices that a member of the audience is armed. The gun is fired, wounding the actor. (Colin Lansky’s sound design aids in this scene’s effectiveness. Lansky also simulates a believable radio broadcast; and bridges scenes with string music; one piece, the fourth movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet Opus 95, is requested by the script.)
In an attempt to ferret out the cause and culprit of this, Gillette gives a Christmas party at his mansion – against the wishes of his mother, actress Martha Gillette (played by Alex Conboy, who captures the character’s mixture of fierce protectiveness and slight dottiness).
Gillette’s home is outfitted with a secret compartment hidden in a wall; as well as devices operated by remote control – not an anachronism, but a comparatively rare, high-end technology in 1936. Dropping a blindingly obvious plot point, a character observes that Gillette’s mansion, which is isolated and on a river, “would be excellent for a murder.”
Some of Gillette’s theatrical colleagues are the first guests to arrive. They include his best friend Felix Geisel (Ja’Quann Spann) and his glamorous and wry wife, Madge Geisel (Lucy Grunden, who laces her delivery of one-liners with irresistible charm); endearingly ambitious Simon Bright (whose apparent lack of worldliness is nicely portrayed by Orion Lopez-Ramierez); and Simon’s new wife, the troupe’s mysteriously wealthy ingénue Aggie Wheeler (Sidney Humes-James, who captures the character’s slightly dangerous elegance). We will discover that Aggie has unrequited feelings for another character.
Amusing though much of the dialogue is (when Simon points out that Gillette is Felix’s best friend, the latter quips, “I repeat, the man is insane”), the initial party scene starts a bit slow. This segment of the script gives the actors little with which to make the characters – which seem to be pastiches of 1930s archetypes (stylized show business professionals that one might see in an Astaire and Rogers musical film) – three-dimensional.
That changes with the arrival of the final guest, who is loathed by all of the others: critic and gossip columnist Daria Chase (portrayed by Emmie Collins, in an outstanding performance). Daria – who tries to seduce Felix despite having described him in a review as a “side of beef” – loses no time in antagonizing the other guests. Establishing this conflict between Daria and the rest of the characters changes the chemistry of the ensemble in a positive, entertaining way.
Daria seems to be an amalgam of two (real-life) mid-20th century writers: gossip columnist Hedda Hopper and critic Pauline Kael. The blonde Collins’ physical appearance (especially the hairstyle) and blithe, brisk delivery of her acerbic lines also somewhat recall Miranda Richardson’s portrayal of columnist Rita Skeeter in the Harry Potter films.
Eventually we discover the reason that Gillette has invited Daria (against everyone’s wishes): she happens to be skilled as a medium, and Gillette wants to hold a séance to discover who is behind the shooting in the theater. The séance, which temporarily shifts the mood from comic to eerie, is given some of Curchitser’s best lighting.
Daria becomes furious when she suspects that the séance is meant to be nothing more than a “parlor game,” and she threatens to write an article that will cause Gillette to be blackballed in show business, angering the protective Martha. Steadily boiling tensions erupt, and a character is stabbed in the back. (The dying victim’s desperate attempt to explain to an obtuse Gillette what has happened reaches its full, morbidly comic potential thanks to the performances and staging.)
The brusquely no-nonsense but stagestruck Inspector Goring (Collins, in a dual role) arrives to investigate the murder. Gillette and Felix, who have touched the evidence, desperately attempt to hide the body. This segment is where Sami really shines as a director. He demonstrates impeccable skill in blocking a scene; and takes full advantage of the skill in timing, and physical comedy, displayed by Gaige and Spann.
The dual casting of Daria and Goring is not requested in the script; it is a production decision. However, it is an apt device that fits the two characters. From a certain viewpoint, the inspector’s job is not dissimilar from the critic’s: to make a decision after processing what she sees and hears.
Unlike the urbane and sometimes insincere Daria, however, the quirky Inspector Goring is comparatively guileless, though experience has taught her to maintain a poker face. Collins excels at keeping the two characters distinctive, giving each of them a unique voice.
Entertaining conflict comes between Inspector Goring, who is a real detective; and Gillette, who thinks he has learned enough from portraying (especially dressing as) Holmes to become one. Collins and Gaige play off of each other well in these scenes, with Gaige’s brooding swagger contesting Collins’ inquisitiveness and slightly haughty reserve.
In recent years Ludwig has had two premieres at McCarter Theatre: Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and The Gods of Comedy (2019). Audiences familiar with those plays likely will notice that The Game’s Afoot contains recognizable elements. There is a mixture of humor with the genre of the whodunit; viewing a stylized past through a lens of showbiz glamour; characters entering from odd places (a bookcase in The Gods of Comedy, a window in The Game’s Afoot); and a love of popular music (before Daria arrives, Gillette’s guests sing, and dance to “I Got Rhythm”).
“I don’t treat life as a joke – I treat it as the most glorious game ever invented,” Gillette tells Aggie. The Game’s Afoot succeeds because Ludwig is effective in doing two things. First, he uses jokes to cover the games that his characters are playing (their initially hidden machinations). Second, he establishes central conflicts between Daria and the actors, and between Gillette and Inspector Goring.
This visually attractive PST production succeeds with both of these aspects of the script. The talented cast ably delivers the one-liners, while giving layered performances that mask the characters’ motives.
The holiday-themed The Game’s Afoot may appear out of season for a summer production, but the spunky Gillette likely would enjoy that contradiction.
“The Game’s Afoot” will play at the Hamilton Murray Theater in Murray Dodge Hall, Princeton University, through July 19. For tickets, show times, and further information visit www.princetonsummertheater.org.