Every fall, Cornwall’s high school drama club produces a show with a small cast. This year’s cast starts small and gets smaller. There are 13 performers in the playbill, but only six of them are still around at the final curtain. What happened to the others? They were “done in” or wasted.” It’s what you’d expect when the board game Clue comes to life.
Although six people are murdered in the show, Clue on Stage is really a comedy. So when a prime character is shot, he doesn’t die quietly. Instead, he waits until the audience is convinced he’s dead, and then sits up and spouts a few farewell lines (more than once).
Homicide isn’t funny, but it’s hard not to laugh at the demise of the messenger. All bubbly and smiling, she enters the set when everyone else is off stage. She prances down the steps, faces the crowd, and sings the contents of a telegram until her solo is cut short by a gun shot.
While two people succumb to bullets, the others fall prey to the traditional weapons in the Clue game. There’s a lot of motion on stage. Characters rush in and out of doors. The pace quickens when the survivors re-create the crimes as they try to find the culprit.
So who did it? You’re invited to join the iconic oddballs known as Miss Scarlet, Professor Plum, Mrs. White, Mr. Green, Mrs. Peacock, and Colonel Mustard as they race to find the murderer in Boddy Manor before the body count stacks up — and the cast continues to get smaller.
The drama club presents the show in the high school auditorium (10 Dragon Drive) at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday (Nov. 2 and 3) and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 4.
Cast: Brendan Ahmed, Quinn Andrews, Laura Castellano, Jack Donlon, Cameron Franke, Joe Giardina, Jessica Henry, James McGill, Daniel Polanco, Jacquelin Prunier, Joshua Sandler, Lillianne Urgent. Some parts are shared, with one person appearing on stage on Friday and Sunday, and the other person creating the role on Saturday.
