You know Clue.
You played Clue in your youth – the murder mystery board game.
You may have seen the movie from 1985, starring Madeline Kahn and Christopher Lloyd, among others.
And now, you can see “Clue,” live on stage at PPAC.
I must admit, I went in with reservations, What could this 75-minute, intermission-free non-musical offer?
I’m here to tell you, it offers laughs. Tons of laughs, thanks to an overload of silliness.
The show opens at the dark and mysterious Boddy Mansion. Mr. Boddy has invited six eccentric characters to dinner. Mrs. Peacock, Colonel Mustard, Mr. Green, Mrs. White, Miss Scarlet, and Professor Plum.
The names are pseudonyms, and the guests are cautioned to avoid divulging personal details to the others. That all flies out the window when Mr. Boddy enters with a briefcase filled with the information he’s been using to blackmail his guests. Want to get off the hook? All they have to do is eliminate Wadsworth, Boddy’s butler.
A crash of thunder and the lights go out. When they come back on, Boddy lies dead on the floor, murdered. Who did it? And that’s where the game begins.
“Clue” is built on snappy silly dialogue. Set in the Eisenhower era in a world plagued by McCarthyism, there are a lot of jokes about Washington that ring true today.
There are fun malapropisms courtesy of Colonel Mustard.
Some sexual innuendo courtesy of Professor Plum and Miss Scarlet.
Silly choreography and a lot of orchestrated open-and-closing of doors.
Bodies pile up, making things feel a bit like Agatha Christie.
Oh, and don’t worry about the plot. After a bit, you forget there is one. Which is fine. You really don’t need it anymore.
There’s a wonderful sequence where a chandelier falls on one of the characters in slow motion. And when it comes time to find who did it, the characters go in reverse to show what “really happened.”
Adam Brett is absolutely brilliant as the butler, Wadsworth. In many ways, he’s the master of ceremonies, keeping the show running and keeping it from going off the rails.
He has a great scene where he recaps the entire show, imitating the characters as he goes. When he wraps up, he is rewarded with thunderous applause.
Kudos to Casey Hushion, the show’s director, for making the mayhem work.
“Clue” is a wonderful mid-winter break, giving us the opportunity to just enjoy silliness.
Don’t we all need something like that right now?
“Clue” runs through this Sunday at the Providence Performing Arts Center. For tickets and information, visit www.ppacri.org or call the box office at 401.421.ARTS.
