Steel Beam Theatre stages spoof of traditional mysteries
"The Real Inspector Hound" by Tom Stoppard opens Friday, April 5, at the Steel Beam Theatre in St. Charles.
Although this play isn't particularly well-known, Stoppard is the multi-award winning playwright of the Tony Award-nominated and highly regarded "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" and the screenwriter for "Shakespeare in Love," a 1998 movie that won seven Academy Awards, including Best Screenplay.
Performances of "The Real Inspector Hound" are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, through April 28, at Steel Beam. Tickets are $22-$28.
The material is a play within a play, spoofing traditional mysteries such as Agatha Christie's "Mousetrap" with elements of absurdism and farce.
"He (Stoppard) is known for language-driven intellectual plays that deal with philosophical and political themes," said director Annie Slivinski of Forest Park. "However, this play is one of his earlier plays. He wrote it in 1968. He wanted to play with the idea of a play within a play."
"It's a classic of absurdism," said R. Scott Purdy of St. Charles, who plays Birdboot. "There's a blending, or interplay, of the reality between the audience and the critics and the fictional aspect of the play. There's a constant breaking of the fourth wall."
The play focuses on two theater critics and is based on Stoppard's earlier career as a critic in England.
"They comment on the play and things going on in their lives while things are happening in the show," said Purdy.
However, the plot is not that simple.
"Part of the play is them (the critics) philosophizing and wondering about the meaning of life and their own identities, as well as reviewing the play they are seeing and, eventually, the reality and the play cross over," said Slivinski.
Meanwhile, the actors are not only playing fictional performers, but also the characters those actors play.
"It's a brilliantly written play, and there are so many layers to discover because of the play within a play structure. So many different levels because you're the character and the actor playing the character," said Mary Griffin of St. Charles, who plays Mrs. Drudge.
"The play offers you the different opportunities to go between those levels. It's a fun show to work on. It's challenging. I'm having a blast."
Purdy agrees the play is challenging, but his character, Birdboot, remains a single character throughout.
"It's very a physical and very fast-paced comedy," he said. "It's challenging for his (Stoppard's) use of heightened language, which is easily understandable when you hear it, but it takes on sentence structures that are not what one normally speaks in American English today. You have to be very precise."
For Slivinski, as the director, the challenge is one not usually associated with theatrical performances.
"There's a dead body on the stage in the beginning of the show and the characters in the whodunit don't appear to notice until later in the play. The dead body is a real actor, so it's about navigating around the body on stage without cluing the actors to it," she said.
For all of its complicated and varied layers, the show is hilarious.
"It's akin to a Mel Brooks sendup of a western in 'Blazing Saddles' or a Mel Brooks sendup of horror in 'Young Frankenstein.' This is a sendup of the Agatha Christie classic mystery play, specifically 'Mousetrap,'" said Purdy.
"First and foremost it is incredibly funny, and anyone who goes to it and has any level of understanding of what's going on - they're going to laugh throughout the play."
"The actors are hyper-real and there's a lot of physical comedy in the play. Certainly, when reality crosses over to the theater, things get really crazy," Slivinski said.
"It's a farce and it's fun and it's a thinker. It's a really nice combination," added Griffin. "You can get lost in an hour and a quarter and have a good time."
"It's a one-act and it runs 70-75 minutes with no intermission," Slivinski said. "It's a fun, thoughtful evening at Steel Beam."
Other cast members include Justin Schaller of Elgin, Jake Busse of Joliet, Ben Slabik of Lombard, Heidi Swarthout of Oswego, Tom Ochocinski of Plainfield and Mary McCormack of Woodstock.
To purchase tickets, visit www.steelbeamtheatre.com or call (630) 587-8521.
If you go
What: Steel Beam Theatre's production of "The Real Inspector Hound"
When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, April 5-28
Where: Steel Beam Theatre, 111 W. Main St., St. Charles
Tickets: $22-$28
Details: <a href="http://www.steelbeamtheatre.com">www.steelbeamtheatre.com</a> or (630) 587-8521