There was a while there when community theatre in downtown Las Cruces had grown a little musty and staid. Old chestnuts were dropping with a thud and there seemed to be a distinct lack of enthusiasm, both on and off the stage. All that has changed over the past few years, with venerable institution Las Cruces Community Theatre getting a rejuvenating second breath, and relative new-comer Blank Conversations injecting an always thrilling dose of youthful energy into the mix.
That energy must be infectious, because the former’s production of Clue, now playing on the LCCT stage, has turned a classic comedy into a youthful romp, with a cast of “mature” actors gamely goofing with shameless abandon. Based on the 1985 movie, which itself was based on the best-selling boardgame, Clue is slapstick farce at its most absurd; a whodunnit send-up that would no doubt make Agatha Christie cringe, while secretly giggling inside at the impudence.
A throwback to Vaudeville in many ways, Sandy Rustin’s script, based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn, is a dynamic frolic through the tropes of the mystery genre, requiring not only great comic timing, but a physicality that may leave audiences as breathless as the characters. In this retro world of camp comedy, doors open and close, secrets are revealed, thunder cracks, and the body count rises, all the while embroiling the major suspects in a mounting barrage of circumstance.
Key to this immersion in the preposterous, set designer Doug Roby’s clever design makes effective use of ambulatory doors within a larger tableau of gothic splendor. Scattered about are oversized dice and mammoth game pieces harkening back to the play’s origins, which also find themselves insinuated into the action in an ingenious display of resourcefulness. Janet Beatty Cold and seamstress Jamie Sharp outdo themselves in the costuming department, with choices that go far beyond simple color scheme. Dan Robillard’s efficacious light and sound design lends an atmospheric vibe that pushes the action to the limits.
Newcomer Chelsey Juenemann, a recent transplant from the Midwest, directs the drollery with a verve and intensity that speaks of years in the theatre trenches, prompting one to wonder what she will be doing next. The same can be said for the mix of old and new faces in the ensemble cast, who waltz through the foolishness with a carefree abandon that is both groaningly irreverent and refreshingly unhinged. This being a true ensemble, there are no real standouts, though Darin Robert Cabot and Rachel Thomas-Chappell have mastered the comic timing and arch asides that make their characters truly splendid.
This being community theatre, there are a few rough spots: set changes that take a little too long, actors stomping on each other’s punchlines, backstage banter that is hard to hear, but nothing too egregious. In fact, if opening night was any indication, the run of this production, and the word of mouth it will surely generate, should be spirited and enthusiastic. There are very few productions I am confident enough to say this about, but I dare you not to laugh. You’ll try not to groan, you’ll probably roll your eyes, but in the end, you’ll find yourself succumbing to the madness. I dare you not to.
