Alberta Youth Theatre Collective reviews Austin O'Brien's Clue
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The ensemble wasn't just moving set pieces – they were moving the show forward with style, precision and a healthy dose of ridiculousness. Far from being simple stagehands, Tomas Peter Lepki, Taras Struk, and Ayla Austin brought their own flair to the story. They helped make the world of Clue feel hilariously alive, proving that in this murder mystery, even the 'bodies' in the background were stealing the spotlight.
No mystery is complete without atmosphere, and Austin O'Brien nailed it– thanks to a perfectly timed pit band that added punchlines with every musical cue. The set design was cleverly simple yet effective, with four coloured doors representing different rooms in the mansion, allowing for fast, chaotic transitions. Posters of each guest hung in the theatre and were spotlighted at key moments, adding cinematic flair, while the lighting team brought drama and suspense to every twist, death and ridiculous reveal. Together, these technical elements elevated the comedy and kept the audience fully immersed in the madness.
In the end, it didn't matter who did it– the real killer was the comedy presented by the cast and crew of Austin O'Brien! A murder mystery this funny should be considered criminal.
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Toronto Star
7 days ago
- Toronto Star
Can you turn a board game into a play? ‘Clue' at Mirvish tries, but doesn't successfully roll the dice
Clue 2.5 stars (out of 4) By Sandy Rustin, based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn, directed by Casey Hushion. Until June 8 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King St. W. or 1-800-461-3333 'Clue,' the whodunit murder mystery now running at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, is itself a bit of a mystery. But the clue to cracking open this 'Clue' is right in its subtitle. Sandy Rustin's 80-minute comedy is billed as being 'Live On Stage!,' a tag line suggesting it hews closely to its source materials: the popular board game of the same name and Jonathan Lynn's 1985 movie spinoff, which featured the likes of Christopher Lloyd and Madeline Kahn. Indeed, for better or for worse, this stage product is a faithful translation of the board game and the movie, as if both were plucked out of their original mediums and dropped onto the stage. Fans of either will almost certainly delight in this latest adaptation, filled with rewarding Easter eggs and directed with exasperating physicality by Casey Hushion. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW But judged as a piece of theatre alone, 'Clue' plays it far too safe and, as a result, never completely satisfies. It's not just that Rustin's comedy rarely finds success in rolling the dice; often, it doesn't even dare to touch the dice. The play's setup is simple enough: six individuals, each concealing their true identities with aliases, receive a curious invitation to a dinner party at Boddy Manor. There's Colonel Mustard (David Hess), a blockheaded Pentagon official; Mr. Green (John Shartzer), a skittish government worker; Miss Scarlet (Sarah Hollis), a seductive brothel manager; Mrs. Peacock (Jennifer Allen), the wife of a prominent U.S. senator; Professor Plum (Evan Zes), who's employed by the United Nations; and Mrs. White (understudy Mary McNulty, on for Donna English on opening night), a serial wife whose husbands have been mysteriously murdered or disappeared. The cast of the North American touring company of 'Clue.' Evan Zimmerman/Mirvish The guests all share one thing in common: they're Washington, D.C., insiders each being blackmailed by Mr. Boddy (Mark Jude Sullivan), who's arranged this meeting in an attempt to settle some scores. The evening, however, stewarded by the buttoned-up butler Wadsworth (Jeff Skowron), soon goes south when the lights turn off and Mr. Boddy is turned into a lifeless body. And when the lights turn back on, it's up to the sextet — joined by Wadsworth — to deduce who among them is the killer, before the cops arrive and arrest them all. Much of the fun of this production is seeing a top-notch cast embody these larger-than-life characters. Allen, especially, is a hoot as the haughty Mrs. Peacock. So too are Skowron as Wadsworth and an incredibly acrobatic Shartzer as Mr. Green. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Lee Savage's scenic designs also do a lot of the heavy lifting. Boddy Manor is rendered here with brilliant detail — complete with side rooms, trap doors and mysterious passageways. But none of these elements can quite help this production overcome the faults in Rustin's stilted script. Aside from the physical comedy, many of the jokes fall flat. And Rustin's dialogue seems more concerned about shuffling the characters from one part of the stage (or board) to another, than developing the play's narrative. When we're through, there are so many plot holes that the final twist ending feels like an easy cop-out. Throughout, I wished the material took more risks and embraced its theatrical setting, instead of borrowing so much from Lynn's dated screenplay. (A running gag about Mr. Green being a homosexual Republican should have been excised long before this production ever made it to the stage.) The cast of the North American touring company of 'Clue.' Evan Zimmerman/Mirvish Another missed opportunity: the play could have further explored the political subtext that's tantalizingly teased at the top of the show, then later all but forgotten. In the end, if 'Clue' too neatly resolves its mystery, there remains one unanswered question hanging over this production: why did a hugely successful board game IP need to receive such a thoroughly mediocre theatrical brand extension?
Edmonton Journal
23-05-2025
- Edmonton Journal
Alberta Youth Theatre Collective reviews Austin O'Brien's Clue
Article content The ensemble wasn't just moving set pieces – they were moving the show forward with style, precision and a healthy dose of ridiculousness. Far from being simple stagehands, Tomas Peter Lepki, Taras Struk, and Ayla Austin brought their own flair to the story. They helped make the world of Clue feel hilariously alive, proving that in this murder mystery, even the 'bodies' in the background were stealing the spotlight. No mystery is complete without atmosphere, and Austin O'Brien nailed it– thanks to a perfectly timed pit band that added punchlines with every musical cue. The set design was cleverly simple yet effective, with four coloured doors representing different rooms in the mansion, allowing for fast, chaotic transitions. Posters of each guest hung in the theatre and were spotlighted at key moments, adding cinematic flair, while the lighting team brought drama and suspense to every twist, death and ridiculous reveal. Together, these technical elements elevated the comedy and kept the audience fully immersed in the madness. In the end, it didn't matter who did it– the real killer was the comedy presented by the cast and crew of Austin O'Brien! A murder mystery this funny should be considered criminal.
Globe and Mail
23-05-2025
- Globe and Mail
Mystery solved: Clue at Mirvish is a delight
Title: Clue Written by: Sandy Rustin Performed by: Jennifer Allen, Mariah Burks, Donna English, David Hess, Sarah Hollis, Jamil A.C. Mangan, John Shartzer, Jeff Skowron, Mark Jude Sullivan, Elisabeth Yancey and Evan Zes Director: Casey Hushion Company: Mirvish Productions Venue: Royal Alexandra Theatre City: Toronto Year: Until June 8, 2025 It's 1954. McCarthyism is running amok across Washington, where no one is safe from investigation – not the politicians greasing the wheels of American power, not the cooks and maids keeping their homes and certainly not their wives and escorts. It's a tense time, and in Clue: On Stage, Sandy Rustin's terrific theatrical adaptation of Jonathan Lynn's iconic 1985 screenplay, the game is, as they say, afoot. The play is relatively faithful to both the film and the board game that inspired it, a mystery predicated on cheesy sight gags and – you've been warned – a veritable murder of puns. When six D.C. power players find themselves at the home of the mysterious Mr. Boddy (Mark Jude Sullivan), his cook (Mariah Burks), his maid Yvette (Elisabeth Yancey) and his butler Wadsworth (the fabulous Jeff Skowron), they soon realize something's not right. Before long, there's a murder, and, à la Agatha Christie, it's up to them to figure out whodunit. Of course, you know these colourful party guests well. There's the bumbling Colonel Mustard (David Hess), who takes things so literally even Amelia Bedelia would be impressed. Mrs. White (Donna English) has a suspicious number of dead ex-husbands, while Mrs. Peacock's (Jennifer Allen) life partner is a powerful senator. Mr. Green (John Shartzer) is a nervous Republican who may or may not have voted blue in the last election, and Professor Plum (a Stanley Tucci-esque Evan Zes) has an even more lurid secret of his own. And Miss Scarlet (Sarah Hollis) seems to know one or two of these men from the D.C. nightlife scene – which is bad news for them, if word gets out. Director Casey Hushion's cast has great chemistry, punchy comic timing and a strong sense of physicality – an important trait in a slapstick comedy such as this one, which frequently sees the party guests tumble over each other like puppies in pursuit of murder weapons and brass keys. Rustin's script, too, preserves the campy political smarm of the film – you can expect more than a handful of jokes at the United States' expense. (Elbows up, could-be murderers!) It's a shame Clue's touring set, designed by Lee Savage, is a bit flimsy – slammed doors rattle the entire Boddy estate in a way that doesn't seem to be intentional, and the Royal Alexandra Theatre's narrow proscenium makes for a few sightline issues when murders happen at the very edge of the stage. When London's Grand Theatre co-produced Clue with the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre last year, Brian Perchaluk's set was wildly imaginative, a spinning, two-floor dollhouse spring-loaded with secrets. Savage's set isn't bad, but theatre fans who saw Perchaluk's – which at the time seemed firmly anchored to the stage without any sightline concerns – might feel a touch shortchanged here. That's a minor complaint, though, for a production that lives up to its marketing materials: Clue really is fun for all ages. The McCarthyism of it all is sure to make the adults in the room chuckle – same goes for the raunchy jokes about 1950s prudishness and secrecy – while the wacky accents and proximity to the board game will easily sate the more bookish kids in the audience. The breakneck 80-minute runtime, too, ensures there's not much room to get bored. Plus, on the design side, Jen Caprio's costumes are just gorgeous – Miss Scarlet's plunging, form-fitting evening gown, in particular, has been tailored to perfection. Performance-wise, it's worth singling out Skowron, whose performance as Wadsworth was just right on opening night. Without any spoilers, the seemingly buttoned-up butler is written in a way that might become tiresome in the hands of a less agile actor. (His final monologue, in particular, has the capacity to become exhausting for both actor and audience.) Skowron doesn't overdo it, and the end result is truly entertaining. His accents could use some work, but hey, it's Clue, not Shakespeare – a missed word or two in RP dialect is no cardinal sin. All this to say: Clue is an utter delight. Mystery solved.
