Your Theatre opens with intriguing whodunit
By Tony Lewis, Standard-Times correspondent
In most whodunits, it's the inspector who has all the fun. From staged versions of Agatha Christie to "Dial 'M' for Murder," from Sherlock Holmes to television sleuths like Colombo and Morse, the annoying policeman is usually the center of the audience's attention.
In Your Theatre's season-opening production of English playwright Leslie Sands' mystery, "Something to Hide," it's one Inspector Davies who prods and probes, playing his two suspects the way an experienced angler plays a trophy trout. And veteran performer Clifford Wood makes the most of his delightful role.
Like a good chess match, "Something to Hide" moves in unexpected ways. The only one who seems to have a handle on the twists and turns is Inspector Davies, and he isn't showing his hand. But then again neither are Henry and Karen Holt, the feuding husband and wife who lie to the inspector and to each other about the death of Henry's lover, Julie Grant, in an apparent car accident in front of their country house.
Soon a neighbor, the flashy and histrionic Miss Cunningham, drops hints about what she saw on the night of the accident, and then the Holts' maid, Stella, starts nosing through their mail, and the jovial town mechanic, Will Purdie, becomes just a tad too chatty.
As the Holts scheme like 1950s versions of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, the inspector becomes a frequent visitor to their rather plush digs. "Mind if I come in?" he asks, plopping into an armchair and fiddling with his pipe as if he were in his own living room.
"Funny how one thing leads to another," he says, as Henry and Karen squirm uneasily and look at each other like the Menendez brothers on Court TV.
Clifford Woods's complete ease in the role provides a stable center around which all the action revolves.
While Mr. Woods pulls on his ear or scratches his head and rubs his eyes as if about to doze off, he pursues a relentless line of questioning that slowly but surely reveals motives or compels the Holts to further lies.
But this production of "Something to Hide" is more than a one-man show. Dennis Amaral does fine work as the suave Henry Holt, a Snidely Whiplash sort of fellow, callow with his wife and sneaky with the inspector. The rapid-fire exchanges between him and the Inspector in Act II are wonderfully engaging.
His girlfriend Julie, played with real sensitivity by Margo Wilson, calls Henry "a nice, good-looking swine,"and he himself admits to being "a kept man."
Mr. Amaral captures both Holt's weakness and his barely contained anger, and yet manages to draw some sympathy from the audience.
He is paired with Carol Oliva as the frazzled Karen Holt, a woman more sinned against than sinning.
Why she wants Henry is anyone's guess, but there's no mistaking her anguish at discovering his infidelities and at agreeing to play along with his lies.
When Ms. Oliva shouts, "What have we done, oh God, what have we done?", the clichéd line comes across like something from Greek tragedy. Later in the play, hardened by Henry's lies and the inspector's questions, she stands bolt upright and defends herself with an almost frightening self-composure that's reminiscent of the young Kate Hepburn.
Ms. Oliva plays the emotionally battered Karen Holt as a neurotic who gradually pulls herself together, and some of the change in her character we can see in her body. Early on, she's frantic and herky-jerky, arms and legs all atwitter, while later she walks more slowly as if thinking about where to place each step.
Sandra Bell is clearly having fun as the quirky Miss Cunningham, a biddy who dresses to the nines and speaks with the deliberation of a seasoned attorney.
She can take a line like, "I had to go and make a pot of tea," and give it the weight of a soliloquy from "Hamlet."
Robert Gillet, too, seems to be having fun with his part, the garrulous Will Purdie. His role, like Ms. Bell's, provides a familiar touch of local color.
Jessica Shannon rounds out the cast as the Holts' maid, Stella.
Judy Lemay's intelligent direction never allows the action to stagnate, even though "Something to Hide" takes place in only one location, the Holt living room in their country house in Essex, England. If anything, the pacing is a bit too frenetic.
Occasionally characters talk about the inspector before he's had a chance to leave the room, or respond to questions without pausing to shape their responses.
Edward J. Maguire and Clifford Wood designed the appropriate and functional set, and the lighting design is by Lawrence R. Houbre Jr.
"Something to Hide" continues at Your Theatre, 71 Maxfield St., New Bedford, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 17-18, at 8 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 19, at 2:30 p.m.; and Wednesday-Saturday, Sept. 22-25 at 8 p.m. For tickets, call (508) 993-0772.
This story appeared on Page B2 of The Standard-Times on September 17, 2004.
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