Over the past weekend, November 3rd – 6th, the drama department production put on a one act play called The Real Inspector Hound. The cast put together this professional level production in a relatively short amount of time. The performers all agreed that the challenge in lack of time pushed them to grow in their craft. Many of the actors also noted that the chemistry between the cast, having previously worked together, attributed to the show’s success. The performers all enjoyed recounting the fun they had putting it together while giving me insight to the backstage events.

It’s a play about a play.

The one act play follows two theatre critics who are watching the setup of a country house murder mystery in the style of whodunit. The lines between the play world and the real (play) world get blurry as the plot progresses and the audience can be easily be left behind if not paying close attention. Caroline Frentz admitted, “The show can be confusing: it took me about three of the five weeks to understand the plot fully!” Then she graciously gave me some insight to the intended interpretation, in case audiences did not grasp it. The play is a parallel, where, by chance, the critics get dragged into the play they are viewing. The plot was pushed by a ploy from the third string critic “Puckeridge,”  to kill all the critics ahead of him. He was playing “Magnus” in the play (within the play). As the play closes, it is revealed that the actors set up to kill the critics and in result it is assumed the lowly third string will now be top critic.

Jillian Verzwyvelt fell in love with  about every male in her presence (except her brother).

The Verzwyvelt twins,  John and Jillian, are juniors 0n campus known for their contrasting yet equally friendly personalities. The two have grown comfortable sharing the stage, and the performances are enhanced by their familiarity. Jillian’s character, Cynthia Muldoon, claims to be upset about the apparent disappearance of her previously mentioned husband, but leads the audience to believe otherwise by her clear interest in every man who crosses her path.  Jillian even shared a few onstage lipstick exchanges! Thankfully, the roles between her and her brother never crossed romantic paths. When asked about this aspect of her performance, Jillian said, “these moments personally challenged my personal limitations as I was thrown into some pretty, um, interesting situations. It was unlike me, but I was thoroughly thankful for the challenge.”

Reece McDaniel broke a rental set table.

Senior Reece McDaniel played Major Magnus Muldoon, a man pretending to be the crippled half-brother of the late Lord Albert Muldoon – who is later exposed to be Lord Albert himself. The plot and character dynamics get sticky (see No. 1). The cast spilled that McDaniel was not so swift in his wheelchair, destroying much of the professionally rented set pieces. Despite this, the cast claims that the professional set has a large impact on the success of their acting.  Junior Caroline Frentz, who plays Felicity Cunningham, elaborates on this, “[The set] definitely required us to up our game and act accordingly on and off stage to prove that even though we’re high school actors we don’t perform mediocre shows.”

Ken Vidrine played a dead body.

In the spirit of the comical yet curious mystery, a dead body was cast to create humor and question. Junior Ken Vidrine was called upon to act out the perfectly eerie cadaver. Throughout the performance, Vidrine stayed incredibly still, despite the laughs, gunshots, deaths, cleaning, and even Reece McDaniel’s previously mentioned wheelchair mishaps. The cast says that he was so in touch with his character he even had time for nap while on stage. Apparently the underestimated, yet crucial, role even cost Vidrine a few bruises.

Garrett Schoeffler portrayed a large, voluptuous maid.

While the plot was a murder mystery, the performance had the perfect amount of humor. A junior here on campus, Schoeffler carries himself with a benevolent and warm spirit. He was the perfect actor to portray the challenging role as a womanly maid. Schoeffler elaborated saying, “I liked playing her because she was involved in a lot of the sarcastic conflict and funny jokes that come along with it, and that is kind of where I fit in in real life.” Schoeffler was extremely entertaining and brought the perfect contrast of humor. He went on to add that he can now support the claim that “taking off your bra at the end of a long day is, in fact, relieving.”

Overall, the play was a well produced and an extremely entertaining piece. The drama department at school is clearly growing rapidly and being pushed to deeper and more challenging works. Personally, I was very impressed and proud of the way my classmates performed. They each individually have great futures as thespians and artists and are collectively doing great work in growing the fine arts department.