Kirk Players kick off season with Oscar Wilde comedy
Kirk Players will open their 54th season with "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime," a comedy murder mystery based on a story by Oscar Wilde and adapted for the stage by Constance Cox. The show opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, at Mundelein High School Theatre and runs through the weekend.
Lord Arthur, a proper Victorian gentleman, is engaged to Sybil Merton, but their future happiness depends upon a successful murder. Mr. Podgers, a palm reader hired by Sybil's mother, Lady Julia Merton, reveals that Arthur is destined to commit a murder.
Assuming that one can never have a happy marriage with murder on the to-do list, Arthur enlists the help of his faithful butler, Baines, to figure out who should be the victim and how the deed should be done.
They try time and again to commit murder, only to fail in each attempt. Then the anarchist Herr Winkelkopf arrives to offer assistance. Will he be any more successful? Will anything work? Will Arthur remain an unsuccessful murderer - and a bachelor?
"This comedy, which makes light of murder in scandalously mischievous fashion, gains as many laughs with just a glance here and there as with actions and words," Director Kat Basso said. "And there's plenty of physical comedy to behold."
"I believe audiences familiar with Oscar Wilde, as well as those newly introduced to his notorious wit, will giggle, laugh and guffaw through 'Lord Arthur Savile's Crime' and the fabulous Victorian characters he bestowed upon us," Assistant Director Meghan Lane said.
The cast features Nat Brautigan as Lord Arthur, Sydney Salit as Sybil Merton, Jim Stahl as Mr. Podgers, Gretchen Grassl as Lady Julia, Jon Leslie Lynn as Baines, and John DiLeo as Herr Winkelkopf.
Other cast members are Dominick Basso, Jessica Motyka, Betty Slack, and Marilee C.C. Rusiniak.
In addition to Basso and Lane, members of the management team are stage manager Peter Grassl, assistant stage manager Barb Selvaggio, and technical director Dominick Basso. The technical team includes set designer Brenda Sparks, set decorator Fred Vipond, lighting designer Chuck Fitz-Hugh, sound designer Martin Hill, costume master Fred Vipond, and props mistress Susie Hill.
Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 4 and 5, and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 5 and 6. All performances are at Mundelein High School, 1350 W. Hawley St., Mundelein.
Tickets may be purchased through the Kirk Players website, www.kirkplayers.org, or by calling (847) 521-6192. Tickets may also be purchased at the door.
Founded in 1966, the Kirk Players is a not-for-profit corporation of volunteers with the purpose of providing service to the community through the arts. Revenue from productions is invested back into the community to support the arts and art programs.
While based in Mundelein, the Kirk Players work throughout Lake County.
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