Preview
SLEUTH
Vertigo Mystery Theatre
Starring David LeReaney and Noel Johansen
Written by Anthony Shaffer
Directed by Margaret Bard
Runs September 11 to October 9
Vertigo Playhouse (Tower Centre)
Adultery, theft and deception. Some games just never go out of style.
First premièred in 1970, the late Anthony Shaffer’s Sleuth has seen more than 30 years of productions, including a popular 1972 film adaptation starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. Upon learning that his wife is unfaithful, veteran English mystery author Andrew Wyke confronts her lover, the younger Milo Tindle, and agrees to divorce her if, in turn, Milo helps him stage a robbery. But of course, all is not as it seems. A complex web of intrigue and devious game-playing underpins this mystery-theatre staple, providing it with a resonance that has kept it onstage nearly continually since its introduction.
Opening this year’s season for Vertigo Mystery Theatre, its selection is a solid, albeit challenging, choice given its long history. For both the audience and the actors, familiarity with a play that depends largely on its surprise plot twists remains a substantial factor.
However, David LeReaney doesn’t think that will hinder anyone’s enjoyment. "A lot of the audience will know the play, they’ll know all the tricks in it, but they’ll still come because they’ll want to see how we do it," says the veteran Calgary actor, who co-stars in the show with Noel Johansen. "There’ll be people who will have seen it and have forgotten and will be surprised as each surprise comes on. ‘Oh yeah, right, now I remember.’"
LeReaney himself is getting re-acquainted with the play, which he first performed 20 years ago at Kelowna’s Sunshine Theatre. Back then, he played the role of Milo. "Now I’m old enough to play the older character, Andrew," he says.
A play whose twists and sudden shifts in mood drive its action, Sleuth requires careful timing and skilful direction. And ensuring a tried-and-true play remains compelling is a challenge, too.
"You’re trying to keep the audience guessing, you’re trying to get them working to figure out exactly what’s going on," says director Margaret Bard. "I know that ‘intellectual’ can sometimes sound like the kiss of death, but in this play it isn’t, because it moves very fast, and there’s a great deal for people to watch as well as hear.
"And," she adds, "I don’t think I’m stepping out on a limb by saying that the Brits love to play word games, they love to spark off each other and banter and display their rapier wit."
It is this repartee between Andrew and Milo that fundamentally drives Sleuth. The play’s overarching theme concerns the games played by men in pursuit of women, wealth and everything else and the characters’ paradoxically respectful conflict is extremely familiar.
"It’s interesting because the duelling (between Andrew and Milo) is, on one level, very harsh and on another it’s very friendly, and it’s typically male," says Johansen, who takes the role of Milo. "Typically, how two men get to know each other is by challenging one another, either physically, intellectually or sexually. And I think what is really interesting about games-playing is not just the game repartee but also the roles people play when they play those games. And I think that our roles change radically – socially, culturally, sexually. We’re constantly playing these games and we don’t know where we necessarily stand or even what our true identity is."
However, fortunately for the cast and crew of Vertigo’s production, a line remains carefully drawn between the cunning machinations onstage and the real, often equally deceitful, world.
"We don’t have a lot of time for this," says LeReaney of Sleuth’s tight production schedule, "so we want to make sure that we’re supporting each other and helping each other as much as possible all the way through. So that kind of challenging and games-playing and butting heads hasn’t happened. It hasn’t bled out into real life."
"But," adds Bard sardonically, "we still have a week to go." |
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