Who cares who killed the cook, or the saucy French maid, or the singing telegram lady? Who cares how it was done: with a rope, a gun, a lead pipe? It’s so much fun to watch this touring production of “Clue” at the Curran—the most beautiful theater in the Bay Area—that if you’ve lost track of the plot (full confession: I did), it doesn’t matter.
Based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn (which was based on the board game of the same name), written by Sandy Rustin with additional material by Hunter Foster and Eric Price, this version of “Clue” is particularly notable for director Casey Hushion’s cleverly detailed choreography.
The seven (or more) possible murder suspects run in lockstep. Or they creep, sashay, tiptoe, mince, slither along the floor like an eel (that would be John Shartzer as the bespectacled, seemingly nervous-nelly Mr. Green, the star of the show) and dance their way through the play.
What else? Well, accident-prone Mr. Green has a slo-mo close encounter with a falling chandelier. People collapse in coils with daggers sticking out of their backs (Mariah Burks as the cook is a particularly expressive corpse). Repeated claps of thunder (impressively deafening sound design by Jeff Human) cause all the characters to scream every single time, which somehow never gets old.
Audiences barely need to know the basics: Six people, all strangers to one another, have been summoned to a dinner party at a grand mansion (beautifully detailed set design by Lee Savage, complete with three separate side chambers) by a mysterious someone, for a mysterious purpose.
They’re welcomed by the butler (Jeff Skowron), who is himself not what he seems to be. The guests are jumpy; the police are expected any minute; outside, the storm rages; inside, people keep dropping dead.
This version of the play is set in the 1950s, during the dread McCarthy era, so references to the “red scare” add some political content. But the fun is in the antics of these characters: the dim-witted Colonel Mustard (John Treacy Egan), hysterical Mrs. Peacock (Joanna Glushak), self-important Professor Plum (Jonathan Spivey) and the rest of the addled lot.
Only a year ago, San Francisco Playhouse presented “Clue” on its own relatively small stage, to great effect, so it’s a testament to the enduring quality of this comedy that with great actors and inspired direction, it just can’t fail.
“Clue” continues through Oct. 27 at the Curran, 445 Geary St., San Francisco. Tickets are $50-$130 at broadwaysf.com. It runs Oct. 29-Nov. 4 at San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, 255 S. Almaden Blvd., San Jose. Tickets are at $52-$105 at broadwaysanjose.com/shows/clue/.
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