[gathering] the mousetrap opening
With the stage all but unusable during the Island's magical winter, a fact that Jamie had anticipated the moment he'd decided to hold the performance in late December months ago, Tabula Rasa's production of The Mousetrap was slated to have its first (and only) showing in the transformed gymnasium of the Rec Center. The Seussian quality of the building, however, was not reflected in any of the sets, which maintained the timeless quality that Jamie had hoped to imbue in the entire feeling of the play. The audience wouldn't be so lucky, of course, having to sit on the Whovian version of bleachers, but then, he supposed, it was better that than being forced to stand outside in the snow for ninety minutes, and the weather was so integral to the story that it was too perfect an opportunity to pass up, as it only fed the claustrophobia inherent in the plot.
What passed for the backstage area was a flurry of activity prior to the start of the show, but that was to be expected. Between Jamie and Layla, the cast and crew were wrangled into positions with a minute to spare, with Layla under strict instructions to make sure Felix Unger didn't run away with the whole show from his place offstage as one of the disembodied voices on the radio through whatever means necessary. Even with nearly two months of preparation, nerves ran high amongst the cast save for a few exceptions -- Bruce, in particular, was calm and collected, traits that Jamie both appreciated and envied. The same could not be said for Pete, though, whose petulance, Jamie tried to convince himself, was simply the man's way of getting into character.
After Brooke ensured, for the umpteenth time, that everyone's costumes were in order -- and after Ianto made sure Brooke wouldn't worry herself into insanity -- the show began. While Mary Jane had been among the most nervous of the cast, she proved herself a consummate performer once the show was underway, sticking to the revised script, but infusing the role of Mrs. Mollie Ralston with an authenticity that was entirely refreshing. Kate, likewise, was equally as believable in the role of Mrs. Boyle, playing up the antagonism between her and Mollie in a way that read as more Mean Girls than The Notebook. It was almost a shame she had to die at the end of the first act, but what was a murder mystery without a murder to solve?
Eden and Archie were solid players in their own right, holding their own against the more experienced actors with minimal slips, but it was Maladicta who proved to be the scene stealer as Paravicini, the most obvious of the plot's red herrings but undeniably the most fun. In spite of her feminine appearance, she was appropriately masculine in her energy, taunting the other characters with aplomb. But where everyone else stuck to the script, more or less, Bruce and Sawyer improvised their way through a few lines, with the former's spur-of-the-moment additions more subtle than the latter's. Fortunately, the story was not affected by the deviations, but there were a couple of moments where Jamie held his breath in anticipation that someone would be too thrown by the change to react appropriately. Fortunately, save for the odd fumbled line, such a disaster was averted.
The final reveal of the murderer went off without a hitch, Sawyer and Mary Jane both acting the hell out of their final scene together. The suspense was as palpable performed as it was on the page, which was all that anyone could've hoped for. Agatha Christie was hard to beat at her own game, and the best the cast could've done was to live up to the story they were meant to be telling, a task Jamie believed they capably accomplished, in spite of his obvious bias. By the time the last of the lines were spoken, and the cast took their bows -- looking as impeccable in their noir-inspired costumes at the end of the show as they did when it had started, thanks to Brooke and Ianto's hard work-- Jamie felt, for the first time in a long time, proud of something he'd managed to accomplish. Maybe it would never give him the same thrill as solving an actual mystery, but as he stood in the wings after the cast and crew started to disperse to greet their loved ones and well-wishers, he wondered, not for the first time, if it wouldn't be enough.
Gathering post for the performance of The Mousetrap, which started at 7 o'clock sharp. All of the information about the play can be found here. Remember, the performance is in the Rec Centre gymnasium. Open to everyone for as long as you need it.
What passed for the backstage area was a flurry of activity prior to the start of the show, but that was to be expected. Between Jamie and Layla, the cast and crew were wrangled into positions with a minute to spare, with Layla under strict instructions to make sure Felix Unger didn't run away with the whole show from his place offstage as one of the disembodied voices on the radio through whatever means necessary. Even with nearly two months of preparation, nerves ran high amongst the cast save for a few exceptions -- Bruce, in particular, was calm and collected, traits that Jamie both appreciated and envied. The same could not be said for Pete, though, whose petulance, Jamie tried to convince himself, was simply the man's way of getting into character.
After Brooke ensured, for the umpteenth time, that everyone's costumes were in order -- and after Ianto made sure Brooke wouldn't worry herself into insanity -- the show began. While Mary Jane had been among the most nervous of the cast, she proved herself a consummate performer once the show was underway, sticking to the revised script, but infusing the role of Mrs. Mollie Ralston with an authenticity that was entirely refreshing. Kate, likewise, was equally as believable in the role of Mrs. Boyle, playing up the antagonism between her and Mollie in a way that read as more Mean Girls than The Notebook. It was almost a shame she had to die at the end of the first act, but what was a murder mystery without a murder to solve?
Eden and Archie were solid players in their own right, holding their own against the more experienced actors with minimal slips, but it was Maladicta who proved to be the scene stealer as Paravicini, the most obvious of the plot's red herrings but undeniably the most fun. In spite of her feminine appearance, she was appropriately masculine in her energy, taunting the other characters with aplomb. But where everyone else stuck to the script, more or less, Bruce and Sawyer improvised their way through a few lines, with the former's spur-of-the-moment additions more subtle than the latter's. Fortunately, the story was not affected by the deviations, but there were a couple of moments where Jamie held his breath in anticipation that someone would be too thrown by the change to react appropriately. Fortunately, save for the odd fumbled line, such a disaster was averted.
The final reveal of the murderer went off without a hitch, Sawyer and Mary Jane both acting the hell out of their final scene together. The suspense was as palpable performed as it was on the page, which was all that anyone could've hoped for. Agatha Christie was hard to beat at her own game, and the best the cast could've done was to live up to the story they were meant to be telling, a task Jamie believed they capably accomplished, in spite of his obvious bias. By the time the last of the lines were spoken, and the cast took their bows -- looking as impeccable in their noir-inspired costumes at the end of the show as they did when it had started, thanks to Brooke and Ianto's hard work-- Jamie felt, for the first time in a long time, proud of something he'd managed to accomplish. Maybe it would never give him the same thrill as solving an actual mystery, but as he stood in the wings after the cast and crew started to disperse to greet their loved ones and well-wishers, he wondered, not for the first time, if it wouldn't be enough.
Gathering post for the performance of The Mousetrap, which started at 7 o'clock sharp. All of the information about the play can be found here. Remember, the performance is in the Rec Centre gymnasium. Open to everyone for as long as you need it.