Are You Clued In?
Clue, the critically acclaimed Broadway play came to the Huntington Beach High School Campus from the 18th to the 21st of April. The play, which is an adaptation of the board game follows six party guests as they have their dinner party filled with misfortune and mystery. On top of the party guests, butler Wadsworth, and French maid Yvette are both pivotal parts of the stageplay. These less-than-favorable positions of these characters begin a series of murderous yet hilarious shortcomings throughout the play.
A Dead Party Party Host!?
The play starts with a simple dinner party which allows for the characters to introduce themselves to one another. This rolls into the cast finding out that they are being blackmailed for their respective wrongdoings and are given murder weapons by the host Mr. Boddy. But as the theatrics rage the stage cuts to black, and the scene is relit with a dead Mr. Boddy. As the manor descends into hysteria the dead body of the cook is found stuffed in the refrigerator and hilariously falls onto the germaphobic Mr. Green. Moments like these clued the audience in on the personalities of each character.
“There was a learning curve with the French accent because I’ve never taken a French class. My double Addie Basile was super helpful because she’s been taking French for 4 years,” said senior Keri James, who played Yevette in the play.
APA actor Ben Phelps who played Wadsworth, said this about his character’s personality, “for playing a character like Wadsworth it’s a bit difficult because while you’re still trying to be a little goofy you still have to act like you are literally about to die. Especially during the 2nd act, it’s a lot of hysterics and high energy. So tiring but also so fun.”
“I thought very hard about how to make the split noticeable. Mr. Green, was very much an awkward, scaredy-cat character, and I kind of took some traits of myself like over apologizing and being very awkward, and kind of applied that to some of his actions,” added actor Rick Notarianni-McCool, about what goes into a playing a character like Mr. Green.
Boddy’s Body Is Gone??????
As the fun lighting and silly theatrics ensue the cast finds that the body, of Mr. Boddy, has vanished. During the bout of hysteria that comes from the discovery, Mrs. Peacock excuses herself from the group. As the blame game continues Mrs. Peacock returns screaming with the murdered Mr. Boddy. As they try to conclude what to do next an uninvited motorist joins the cast, who Wadsworth locks away. This onstage chaos snowballs into even more deaths occurring.
First, the motorist who is clubbed to death with a wrench. Then lights cut out once again. Yevete gets strangled by a dark figure an unexpected cop who was locked in the library is brutally killed, and lastly, the singing telegram who is shot.
James added on about having to hold her death pose for so long, “was kinda hard to pose just because the table I was on was pretty small, but I found myself listening to the actors and picturing what they were doing to help the time pass.”
After the three quick murders end, the blame game starts, with each character pointing the finger at the other. This rolls into a hysteric sequence of the police arresting the respective characters, which didn’t fail to elicit extensive laughter from the audience.
“My favorite part is every time the chief of police comes in with a new pun name! Gil T. Verdict and Bary D. Hatchet are my favorites,” concluded James.
But There’s a Twist!
Clue ends the night with two big twists that left the audience stunned in their seats.
“I’ll be honest when first read the script and saw that I was going to be one of the biggest twists in the play. I was very excited about it but also terrified. working with my double, Harry Hartin. It was also very fun to see the process of character work for how Larry Goodman is versus how Larry Goodman acts as Mr. Green,” added McCool about the nerves around being a part of such a twist.
“On-stage interaction was honestly so fun, especially as Wadsworth. We really all are so close with each other and we’re all just enjoying ourselves which helps us really get into the mood and energy that Clue requires,” concluded Phelps about his enjoyment surrounding the play.
Clue, was one of the many amazing plays that were put on by the APA department this school year. The puns, 4th wall breaks, and overall comedy added to an amazing plot that was filled with mystery, deceit, and tension.
