By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
photo by Ryan Fagan
Stephen Frankenfield (standing), Jodi Ajanovic and Keith Wick find themselves in one sticky situation after another in "Accomplice."
Who doesn't love a good murder mystery filled with quippy comments, set early in the 20th century, with a proper British butler, and the whole cast wearing fashionable attire?
And who else doesn't love a good spoof on the whole who-dun-it genre? Those fun-loving folks at Live Theatre Workshop are becoming something of an expert when it comes to tickling the belly of what goes on behind the scenes – and in the posturing – of the theatrical lifestyle.
Rhonda Hallquist is having great fun as director at the eastside theater, keeping her cast of four lively actors jumping through the most intricately elaborate, plot-shifting, assumption-shattering, logic-clinging tale of obsession with committing a murder that leaves no clues.
Yes, we are talking “Accomplice” by Rupert Holmes (“The Mystery of Edwin Drood”), technically a drama update since it is set in the mid-1970s, but still at a nicely appointed “moorland cottage” and later in a London suite at Claridge's Hotel.
Of course there is ample imbibing of scotch and gin as one surprise twist after another gives the tale a good yank in a new direction.
On board for this carnival ride are LTW's A-team cast of Jodi Ajanovic, Keith Wick, Emily Gates and irrepressible Stephen Frankenfield. Everybody plays more than one part, it seems, in a true ensemble effort. The program lists the cast members without assigning them specific roles.
Holmes' writing is so tight that describing the opening scene is practically impossible without becoming a plot-spoiler for the next scene. But here is a little taste.
Ajanovic is a slender sophisticate, cynical to the max, calmly mixing a poisonous brew to slip into the drink of (presumably) her husband when he gets home from work.
The stage design by Jason Jamerson looks appropriately genteel, much too refined for some cold-blooded killing.
Wick appears sporting thick hair and a bushy mustache, looking for his Glenfiddich and soda, shuffling the bar glasses around, confounding Ajanovic's plan.
We will meet Gates later as an ambitious young woman who knows what she wants. Frankenfield does most of his work in Act Two playing a guy who thrives on high anxiety. There is no problem he can't solve by pouring on more aggravation.
In a way, “Accomplice” will feel like a special treat for true theater-lovers, with inside jokes on both the lore and the craft of this playbox life. There is humor afoot, for sure, as well as the pursuit of that final surprise at the very end.
Performances continue through Nov. 10 on Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m., in Live Theatre Worshop, 5317 E. Speedway Blvd. Tickets are $15 Thursdays, $20 all other performances, $18 for students, military and seniors 62+.
For details and reservations, livetheatreworkshop.org or 520-327-4242.
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