(l to r) Robert Kropf, Ari Lew, Robin Bloodworth, Brenda Withers, and Jonathan Fielding in The Mousetrap
Photo: Justin Lahue
Review by Lee Roscoe
Oh my, what fun, just what the doctor ordered for a wonderfully entertaining escape from current events. The Mousetrap at the Harbor Stage is an opportunity for the company to show off their chops individually and in ensemble. No wonder Agatha Christie’s clever murder mystery is the longest running play in history.
The madness starts at Monkswell Manor, a new guest house opened by the empathetic Mollie and hunky Giles Ralston, an appealing couple played with sensitive delicacy by Stacy Fischer, and the completely convincing Ari Lew (an actor who always is inhabited by the characters he plays). Not quite sure of what they’re doing, they begin to host a nest of oddballs. One by one coming in from a blizzard to the parlor are four eccentric Brits, Christopher Wren, a flighty man who named himself after the famed architect, played with endearing Monty Python battiness by Jason Lambert; Major Metcalf, a distracted army man played by the ever charismatic Robin Bloodworth; Mrs. Boyle, a snobby and complaining retired magistrate captured precisely by D’Arcy Dersham; an allegedly Italian mystery man, Mr. Paravicini, delivered by Robert Kropf in a slithery Pink Panthery fashion; and the stalwart, stylishly mannish, Miss Caswell, played by Brenda Withers with wicked perfection.
A murder has been committed nearby. Enter, through the gothic window, Detective Sergeant Trotter (Jonathan Fielding), carrying the skis he came to the house on, swinging them obtrusively past the guests. Trotter suggests that the boarders at the Manor are in danger from the murderer, somehow connected to a farm where children were abused, a motive for revenge. He says the killer’s message is delivered by the children’s ditty, “Three Blind Mice,” (hence the title of the play and core to its symbolism).
In Act Two, Trotter, rages, cajoles, analyzes. And as he delves into the possible guilt of all the characters, their backstories, some interconnected, are slowly revealed, as the play swirls to its gasp-producing climax.
Rhythmically and expertly directed by Robert Kropf, the action takes place on a wood-paneled, Victorian set which acts as its own character—with scenes in the parlor, and behind doors, through doors, and up and down stairs, beautifully designed by Justin Lahue and lit with indelible atmosphere by John R. Malinowski.
Between the clever lines are some important questions about identity: do we ever completely know anyone, and who is capable of what, really? Come to Harbor Stage if you want to know the answer for this play’s absorbing and intriguing characters.
The Mousetrap is performed Wednesdays – Saturdays, 7 p.m. and Sundays, 5 p.m. (with additional show Tuesday, August 4, 7 p.m.) through August 8 at the Harbor Stage, 15 Kendrick Ave., Wellfleet. For tickets ($28 – $54) and information call 508.214.0495 or visit harborstage.org.
