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October 22, 2010 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer .com Page 19
Theatre
Pursue the mystery with Willow’s ‘Sleuth’
LOU FANCHER
Clayton Pioneer
Reviewers do not allow theater companies
to tell them what or what not to write.
So it’s not the Willows Theatre Company
that’s holding the reins of a reviewer’s pen:
it’s Anthony Shaffer, the playwright of
“Sleuth,” the Willow’s current production.
Since the play’s original 1970 staging in
London, audiences have been asked to
remain mum about the plot. “Sleuth” is a
murder mystery with multiple layers of
deceit and deception. A tell-all would spoil
half the fun of seeing the show.
Many may already have seen the play or
either of the two movies – a 1972 version
with Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine
or the 2007 film starring Caine and Jude
Law. Yet due to Shaffer’s skillful playwriting
and the popularity of the mystery
genre, there’s still good reason to buzz
over to the Campbell Theatre in downtown
Martinez.
Director Richard Elliott spins out an
efficient tale, with enough humor and danger
to satisfy the nearly sold-out houses
the production is attracting.
What can be told about the plot is simple.
Andre Wyke, a wealthy thriller writer,
invites young Milo Tindle to his home for
a drink. Over scotch, Andrew reveals that
he knows about the affair his wife is having
with Milo. He suggests a devilish plan
to rid himself of a tiresome wife and grant
Milo his heart’s desire.
Of course, there’s something fishy in
Andrew’s motivation and in Milo’s participation,
but that’s where the exposition
must come to a halt.
Shaun Carroll as Andrew Wyke is
vibrant. He’s not as haughty as Olivier or
as gritty as Caine, but his portrayal of a
wronged spouse gains depth as the play
progresses.
Especially in the first act, Carroll bounds
Everybody’s favorite nun is back at the
Willows Theatre. Billed as a “one Nun-sense
musical event,” “Sister Robert Anne’s
Cabaret Class” stars Willows’ veteran
Deborah Del Mastro as the tune-belting,
wise-cracking, trumpet-playing nun who left
her sandal prints over all the previous
Nunsense musicals.
“Sister Robert Anne’s Cabaret Class” is
the Willows’ holiday musical offering, opening
Nov. 29 in Martinez. The show features
songs from all the “Nunsense” shows and is
directed by Dan Goggin, the creator of all
seven (so far) “Nunsense” musicals.
“Danny Goggin made the Willows an
offer that we couldn’t pass up: the West
Coast premiere of a ‘Nunsense’ special,
written specifically for Deb Del Mastro,”
said Willows general manager Christine
Marshall.
Del Mastro and Goggin premiered
“Sister Robert Anne’s Cabaret Class” in July
Photo credit, David Faustina.
SHAUN CARROLL AND ERIC INMAN star in the Willows Theatre production of Sleuth,
Oct. 4-Nov. 7 at the Campbell Theatre in Martinez.
across the Campbell’s diminutive stage with
the dexterity of a gymnast. Although this
energizes the production, it detracts from
his character’s claims that he needs Milo’s
help because he, an older gentleman, is less
agile. It’s a small point, but an important
one early on, when the plot is still dependent
on an old cliché: Seeing is believing.
Eric Inman is an enchanting blend of
gullible lover and resentful, pouty, young
professional. As Milo, he’s deft at comedic
moments: climbing into a clown suit with
all the delight of a 6-year-old at Halloween
and in other scenes too far into the play’s
“protected plot” to describe.
The kitschy set is full of visual charm,
at the Playhouse on the Green in Bridgeport,
Conn., where it played to full houses and got
superb reviews. The Willows is the first West
Coast theater to produce the show.
Del Mastro, a “singing nun with a difference,”
is a longtime member of Goggin’s
favorite nunnery, the Little Sisters of
Hoboken. She originated Sister Robert Anne
in “Nunsense Jamboree,” “Nuncrackers,”
“Meshuggah-Nuns” and “Nunsensations,”
all of which played at the Willows over the
years, many as world premiers. She can be
heard on all the original cast CDs.
Del Mastro filmed “Nunsense Jamboree”
with Vicki Lawrence, “Nuncrackers” with
Rue McClanahan and “Nunsensations” with
the original cast. She is also a Beach Blanket
Babylon alumna. And as a U.S. Navy Band
veteran, she really is the one playing the
trumpet.
“Sister Robert Anne’s Cabaret Class” plays
Nov. 29-Jan. 16. at the Campbell Theatre, 626
Ward Street, Martinez. Tickets available at willowstheatre.org
or 798-1300.
from a collection of colorful masks to a
bubbling fish tank to the 4-foot tall fisherman
doll that laughs upon the press of a
button. Elliott demonstrates once again his
affinity for humor, even amidst the blood
and bullets.
If you know the plot, it’s still a delight
to watch how human desire for love or
revenge leads to … well, I can’t tell you
that part. You’ll have to go and see for
yourself.
“Sleuth” plays through Nov. 7 at the
Campbell Theatre, 626 Ward St., Martinez.
Tickets are $22-$32. For more information, call
798-1300 or visit willowstheatre.org.
Willows toasts the holidays with
new ‘Nunsense’ musical
GARY CARR
Special to the Pioneer
Britney and friends play it out in Center REP show
“Becoming Britney” opens at the
CenterREP Oct. 28.
How does a pop sensation wind up bald
and trapped in her own musical?
“Becoming Britney” is a caustic (but loving)
PG-13 fable that chronicles the
rise…the dip…and the salvation of a foolhardy
celebrity phenom.
Produced by Center REP and directed
by Daya Curley, the show features eleven
original songs that pay homage to multiple
musical theatre genres including shows like
“Annie” and “Rent,” and composers like
Rodgers and Hammerstein among others.
The songs include a comical waltz between
Britney and K-Fed as they both agree the
other is, “The Love of My Life (So Far),” a
show-stopper called “Push It Out” in
which Brit has two babies and “Out of
Control,” a swingin’ jive number about her
downward spiral with the help of friends
Lindsay and Paris.
NY Fringe Festival award winning
DEB DEL MAESTRO stars as Sister Robert Anne,
a part written especially for her, in the latest
Willows Theatre “Nunsense” production,
opening Nov. 29 at the Cabaret in Martinez.
actress Molly Bell wrote the book, music
and lyrics and also stars in the show. Bell
was recently seen in Center REP’s “A
Marvelous Party.”
Performances run from Oct. 28 through
Nov. 14 in the Knight Theater, Lesher
Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek. Tickets
are $25. For more information go to
CenterREP.org or call (925) 943-SHOW
(7469), or go to the LCA Ticket Office at
1601 Civic Drive or the Ticket Office Outlet
at Barnes & Noble in Walnut Creek.
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