Rehearsal for Murder

This is the time of year for thrillers and murder mysteries. This one comes burdened by its origin: short sharp scenes in mosaic format swing between the past and present and keep us engaged but confused.

This conceit gives a fresh approach to the genre. Director, Sandra Harman, her cast and crew, worked hard to lead us through the complicated story of a leading lady who, supposedly, suicided when many opening night reviews were negative. Her playwright husband-to-be believes she was murdered. He writes the treatment of a new play and on the first anniversary of her death, calls together all members of the original company to read the scenes he has written so far.

The plot interweaves these readings with the past events leading up to the opening night. Paul Careless (as playwright, Alex Dennison) does a splendid job of steering us through long passages of exposition and rapid-fire scenes from past and present. Phil Carney’s clever lighting design clarified for us the ‘where and when’ of each scene in the plot sequence.

I found it difficult to accept Gary Kliger, a wonderful character actor with a distinctive style, as the Broadway leading man, David Matthew. As the leading lady, Monica Welles, Sharon White is present throughout.

The large cast worked as a tight ensemble – I congratulations them all.

Jay McKee

Images: Sandy Sharma, Brendan James & Gary Kliger and Brendan James & Paul Careless.