“The Real Inspector Hound” by Tom Stoppard is now available via Zoom at Spooky Action Theater until August 29, 2021 and directed by Richard Henrich. The play is an absurdist comedy that also satirizes British mystery dramas, like “The Mousetrap” by Agatha Christie. It also pokes fun at theatre critics and how they review plays.
Stoppard is probably the pinnacle of British absurdism. “The Real Inspector Hound” was written in the early 1960s and like Stoppard’s “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead,” it became required reading and viewing for many theater majors. Stoppard pushes the limits in his most of his plays and in this one, he not only breaks the fourth wall, he smashes it.
The play opens with two critics, Birdboot (Steve Beall) and Moon (Robert Bowen Smith), sitting in the audience to review the play within the play, “Mystery at Muldoon Manor.” Moon is filling in for Higgs, the senior critic at his newspaper. Moon fantasized throughout the play about becoming the principal critic and not just the substitute. Birdboot is a bit of a letch. He is presently having a fling with one of the young actresses in “Mystery at Muldoon Manor,” although he is married to Myrtle.
After a bit of chatter between the two, “Muldoon Manor” begins. It is a typical British mystery. A madman is on the loose and was last seen close to the manor which is inhabited by Cynthia Muldoon (Carolyn Kashner) whose husband disappeared ten years ago. Mrs. Drudge (Wendy Wilmer) is the maid and was put there by the playwright to add humor to the plot. Also residing there is Major Magnus Muldoon (Matty Griffiths), the crippled half-brother of the long missing Albert, the Lord of the Manor. Into the plot steps Simon Gascoigne (Danny Cackley), a local Casanova who abruptly ends his affair with Felicity Cunningham (Jackie Madejski), a friend of Lady Cynthia Muldoon. Simon is now in love with the somewhat older Cynthia. Appearing later to solve the mystery and capture the madman is Inspector Hound (James Sullivan).
As the two critics watch the show, Birdboot decides he no longer has feeling for the actress playing Felicity but now has romantic aspirations for the actress playing Cynthia.
Things start really going haywire after Act II so don’t leave at the posted Intermission. It is not a real one and be prepared for the mayhem that will follow.
Spooky Action Theater creative interpretation of this classic farce is well worth viewing. If you are able to see it this coming week, definitely put it on your must-see list.
Heinrich has done an admirable job considering the fact that the only two characters who actually interact in person are the two critics. It is challenging to do comedy without an audience, but he manages to create laughter. The rest of the stage is a projected set of a British manor. The heads of actors in the play within a play are Zoomed into the set as are props, like the telephone, and furniture, and a couch. It is an interesting approach but some may find the disembodied heads floating about a little disorienting. After the initial start of “The Mystery of Muldoon Manor” I did get comfortable with the technique. Tim Phillips is responsible for this videography with his assistant, Lis Hodsoll, and Video Editor, Gordon Nimmo-Smith.
As the two critics, Beall and Smith, have wonderful chemistry and their characters are the focal point of this farce. The two actors slide gracefully onto the stage after “Intermission.” Their psyches are revealed to the audience by becoming part of the plot.
Kashner and Madejski create formidable foes for the love of the charming Simon. Cackley’s Gascoigne is just mysterious enough for the audience to wonder about the character. Is he the madman or just a scoundrel?
Griffiths Magnus is over the top with a comical wig that one wonders if he is the madman or in disguise. Sullivan’s flatfoot Inspector is more Brooklyn than British, but that helps create the absurdity of Stoppard’s play.
Spooky Action Theater creative interpretation of this classic farce is well worth viewing. If you are able to see it this coming week, definitely put it on your must-see list.
Running time: One hour and 25 minutes with no Intermission.
Spooky Action Theater’s “The Real Inspector Hound” runs until August 29, 2021. For tickets go to this link. Spooky Action Theater reopens to live audiences in September. Go to their website for more information on their new season.
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