Patrick (Oliver Mair, left), Elizabeth (Rushae Watson, centre) and Storm (Stephanie Hazel) in another tense moment from 'Clues'.
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Marcia Rowe, Gleaner Writer
"I have been involved in theatre before when I was in the Cayman Islands, and I hadn't seen it [dinner theatre] done here. Sure, it probably has been done, but if so, not in a long time and definitely not as part of Restaurant Week. And so I thought, 'Restaurant Week has been around for like nine years, it would be a good addition to the Restaurant Week landscape'," Laveda Thompson, playwright and producer of Clues, shared with The Gleaner on Sunday at The Pantry Playhouse.
Clues was put on as a dinner theatre experience, and at the end, it seemed patrons were hoping that the format would go beyond Restaurant Week. "It is an experience that will not soon be forgotten. Certainly, a lot of people won't get to experience it this week," said Rushane Hamilton. Monique Dawkins would like Jamaican dialect to be included.
But putting on such an event comes with challenges, as revealed by Thompson.
Whereas the proprietor of the Dumfries Road, New Kingston, Pantry Playhouse, was very receptive, there were other hurdles to overcome. Foremost was to have Restaurant Week buy into the concept of dinner theatre, and second, pulling a cast and technical team together.
Thompson found two allies in Stephanie Scott and Peter Abrikian. Scott wanted the event to get off the ground and, as such, was very helpful. Abrikian, initially called on to play a role, offered to direct the play. Thus, the dinner theatre production started coming together.
On arrival at the venue on Sunday, patrons were greeted with the sounds of popular music and the sight of attractively decorated dinner tables on the lawn. But unlike dinner theatre in other parts of the world, Clues was preceded by the meal between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. instead of being performed during dinner.
At showtime, all were ushered to the Pantry's tree house, where the gripping mystery drama, Clues, unfolded.
The one-act play is about five unsuspecting individuals who are lured to an unoccupied, rundown guest house called Summer Set on a stormy night. Their dilemma is that they are being accused of either being an accomplice to or having committed crimes that happened there several years ago. With the help of a series of clues, which begin with a letter, the truth is revealed.
convincing actors
It was fine acting from the cast of Jerry Benzwick, Makeda Solomon, Oliver Mair, Rushae Watson, and Stephanie Hazel. Solomon captured the devoted mother persona required of her character, Cheryl; likewise did Mair as the debonair, jovial pharmacist Patrick. Watson and Hazel, as Elizabeth and Storm, respectively, were in tune with their roles. Benzwick, too, was convincing as the aggressive, alluring, and complex Neville.
Director Abrikian's effective blockings seemed to send tentacles of discomfort around the intimate theatre space. Every detailed movement was followed as audience members tried to solve the murder mystery for the characters.
Suspense is always at the heart of a mystery drama, and Robin Baston's sound and lights helped add this to the production. Baston also teamed up with Kristina Bookall to create a very functional set, which shifted from the foyer of the guest house to a room somewhere inside and back again. They were able to project the decay and neglect of the old, two-storey house quite convincingly.
Clues, in the dinner theatre format, will come to an end on November 16.
