CLTP: The Butler Did It

Every year, the Cheyenne Little Theater holds a new play contest. The winner gets to have their play given a staged reading the next year.

This year's staged reading was for The Butler Did It, by Todd Wallinger.

It ran only 2 nights - Nov 9 and 10, and tickets were only $5. Took place at the Atlas Theatre.

I went yesterday with a friend and enjoyed it.

Tip #1. 
At the Atlas Theatre, always try to get seats in the balcony. Those are "theatre seats" which are much more comfortable than the straight-leg chairs they have on the ground floor. Also from the balcony you get a much better view of the stage and actors.

The Butler Did It!
As the title implies this was a mystery play, taking place in the 1930s in an isolated mansion (there's heavy rains that wash out roads leading to the house). Someone is killed and only someone in the house could have done it.

It's a comedy mystery, and there were a lot of amusing lines. I actually guessed who the murderer was halfway through - there's one line that just gives it away to someone who has read every Agatha Christie book four or five times... - but the person I was with didn't get it so maybe it wasn't as obvious as I thought. Having an obvious murderer isn't necessarily a drawback, you still want to learn how and why they did what they did, and you still enjoy watching the characters since you care for them.

The CLTP is made up of amateur actors, and they all did a good job. In all the CLTP plays I've seen the actors have been at least competent, some have had a professional gloss. That was the case here. No one let the play down, but some actors were better than others - in gradations, not stark contrast. The guy who played the butler had a perfect British accent, which always pleases me.

The actors sat in a row on stage. They were dressed in appropriate costumes, but did no stage action. There was a "butler's butler" who made the noises when appropriate - dropping suitcases, dropping a tray with dishes on it, tying up the butler, and so on. I think it was pretty clear who should have been doing the action,  when each of these actions occurred. One funny bit was when the murder occurred (halfway through the first act) the stage goes dark, when lights go on the victim's chair is turned over and his legs protrude over the top. I don't know if the actual actor was still there, being extreeeeemely still for another 20 minutes or so, or if they just draped a pair of boots in stuffed jeans over the top of the chair. If the actor was lying on the stage for 20 minutes  - with his shoes not moving at all - he must have great body control!

I think this will be a good community theatre play - the addition of one more -totally unsympathetic- character might help keep the mystery a mystery - although I don't know how the playwright could introduce such a character. (It's a fair play mystery. Clues are scattered throughout the play to give you an idea of who the murder might be. Also of course everyone has a motive for killing the guy, Or if not motive, at least opportunity. With the addition of another, totally unsympathetic character, the audience can spend their time hoping he/she is the murderer, instead of someone they've grown to like. (As an aspiring playwright myself, ideas are bubbling... but I'd better stick to working on my own mystery play!)

There was only one flaw on the night. The playwright was there, and at the end of the play the butler called out his name - but only the folks on the bottom floor could see him. They should have had him come up on stage for his bows.

Exit the Body
I think this is another staged reading - of a different mystery play, obviously. This one will be Dec 10 and 11 at the Mary Godfrey Playhouse (a theatre with all-theatre seating).

I urge everyone who likes the theatre and/or likes mysteries to go see it!

Cast of The Butler Did It!
Jenkins (the butler) - Joe Batson
Sarah Jane (a maid) - Shelley Russell
Colonel Nigel Covington - Glenn Shaffer
Lady Miranda Covington - Pat Lauber
Gram  (Lady Covington's mother) - Vickie Jarvis
Kat Covington (daughter, aspiring pilot) - Shauna Miller Best
Trevor Barstow - a philandering wastrel - Justin Earnshaw
Edwina Corry  (mystery writer) - Alisha Perkins
Father Timothy - Peter Steiger
The Butler's Butler (the one who did all the stage "business" - Samantha Fairbairn

Directed by Shawn Casey, Assistant Director Luana Krause