Murder mystery afoot at English Valleys

            After an attempt on his life is made on stage, famous Palace Theatre actor William Gillette follows in the example of Sherlock Holmes to solve the case himself as mystery and hilarity ensue in Ken Ludwig’s “The Game’s Afoot”, presented by the English Valleys Drama Department.

            “The Game’s Afoot” featured William (Austin Galarza) as a self-proclaimed sleuth and all his theatre friends as suspects as they enjoy a Christmas Eve get together at his massive castle ridden with secret passages and hammered by a terrible storm. Joined by William’s mother, Martha, the main cast was rounded by newly weds Aggie Wheeler (Lyla Klett) and Simon Bright (Charlie Axmear), William’s best friend Felix Geisel (Eric Rodby) and wife Madge Geisel (Katryna Jaenette), and an unpopular houseguest in columnist Daria Chase (Angela Wells).

            The plot only thickens with the sudden attack and supposed murder of Daria Chase, as William discovers his own mother was responsible after calling the police. Inspector Goring (Jacquelyn Barney) arrives on the scene, but has her work cut out for her with William insisting her has the case covered. Indeed, the Sherlock-wannabe is able to see through his friend Simon’s intent to kill Aggie in order to be with his mistress, and also Aggie’s motion to kill Simon in the end. What also becomes clear is Aggie’s murder of her former husband for his money, showing a side of her not even insinuated in the first act.

            “Aggie is a prim, proper woman that was taught to be a perfect woman, has to have a big house, lots of money and have a handsome husband, which is why she’s a bit loose in the head,” Klett said. “She kills her first husband and marries Simon out of love, though her first choice was always William, who wasn’t moving on from his wife who passed away. When she finds out Simon is cheating on her, Aggie’s true color show she is cunning and tries to her husband killed or arrested.”

            “The rest of the characters are shocked to hear to hear that Aggie and Simon got married,” Axmear said. “He and Aggie recently got married after her husband died in a ‘freak ski accident’, so he seems to comfort Aggie.”

            With the mystery solved by William himself, Inspector Goring acted as more of a comic relief in the play. She finds herself called to the scene of murder with Daria’s body hidden by William and Felix, the murder weapon also hidden and no one seeming to know what was going on. Goring is part of line of successful female detectives who wishes she also could have been an actress like the ones she finds herself surrounded by.

            “[Inspector Goring] is very eccentric, always all over the place and can get very loud,” Barney said. “I like to make her awkward at some points for the fun of it. She’s clever, but also at times seems to be off in her own little world.”

            A departure from the school’s previous productions, Drama Director Carrie Burdick talked with her students about what they wished to do after their fall play. While time constraints and students in other activities were a factor, the choice to perform a murder mystery seemed to excite everyone involved.

            “We’ve done a lot of fairy tales stuff lately, so the students were interested in doing something a little funny, a little different, so we looked for something with those properties,” Burdick said. “When I choose a play, I sit down and look for the best play and I know we have the talent at EV that we will get the best show anyway.”

            According to Burdick, Thursday’s performance in front of English Valleys Elementary students was the first time the entire cast performed together. All three student actors agreed that even with time to rehearse limited to two months, each had a wonderful experience preparing and performing for the show.

            “I enjoyed the mystery behind the script when I was first reading through it in my English class, Klett said. “I was reading it back and forth with Austin and we liked the suspense it brings and the little hints it drops. When they tell you who is the culprit, you go back and think ‘oh that really makes sense now.’”

            Students not only enjoyed acting for the play, but also helped build the living room set that included a secret passageway to Daria was hidden in while dead. With the final scene, however, she is shown walking out of the passageway alive; that is until a frightened Felix shots her to end the show.

            “I enjoyed being able to work with all these people,” Barney said. “I’m a senior this year, so this is my last play. It’s kinda sad, but if they keep it up I know they can have a great play next year too.”