Clue!

Yes, it's a play based on a movie based on a board game we played as kids. No, it's not Shakespeare or Sondheim or even Sorkin, but what it is, is fast paced and funny. 

The play takes place in 1954 in DC, at the height of the McCarthy hearings. 6 people have been invited to party at the Boddy mansion, and they all show up solo. Yeah, put the brain in hold here and just enjoy.

We have Colonel Mustard, a dimwit. We have Mrs. White, a black widow with a history of dead husbands. We have Mrs. Peacock, wife of a Senator and prude. We have Mr. Green, a bureaucrat and gasp, a homosexual. We have Professor Plum, an arrogant ass. We have Miss Scarlet, a sharp-tongued escort. 

The "party" is run by a butler named Wadsworth who has all them there for a reason. Blackmail! All 6 characters have secrets, though Miss Scarlet loudly announces she did everything she's accused of and is incapable of being blackmailed. Bodies begin dropping. 6 in all. Whodunit?

The play is only 90 minutes long. It ends abruptly and I'm not sure anybody expected it because it was barely started, or so it seemed. The sets are amazing and change effortlessly whether it be the study or the lounge or the lobby or the kitchen. 

The cast. Damn, there's not a weak character up there. They are in a constant frenzy, and all deliver lines with perfect timing. Jeff Skowron as Wadsworth runs the show, he's the QB. And he is wonderful with numerous accents and snark. John Tracy Egan plays the kind of dimwitted Col. Mustard. His off the cuff lines sort of relating to what was just said is both weird and hilarious. Tari Kelly as the devious Mrs. White, who may or may not have killed her numerous husbands. Joanna Glushak as Mrs. Peacock, the wife of a Senator and prudish hypocrite. Jonathan Spivey as Professor Plum, the condescending professor of psychiatry. Christina Anthony as Miss Scarlet, the fast-talking madam. Elizabeth Yancey as Yvette, the sexy maid. Mariah Burks as The Cook, the cook. Then we have Alex Syiek and Teddy Trice playing various roles as need be.

But John Shartzer as Mr. Green, the secret gay guy shines. This guy can do physical humor as well as I've seen on stage. He falls, he limbos, he is like a Jim Carrey with a rubber body. He is amazing not to mention that he has perfect timing in his pratfalls. He got applause from the audience a lot.

This play is for anyone who needs a break from life. Its humor is dry AND crazy. It's both physical AND mental. It's clever AND stupid. The cast makes all this happen. It helps to know things about the board game, the movie AND what life was like in 1954 during the Red Scare. That knowledge just makes it funnier.

I put this play in the Expected Nothing And Got A Lot Category. I laughed a lot. It was fun.