Like many, I grew up playing Clue and have seen the 1985 movie, but I did not realize there was such a fandom around the classic until I arrived at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts for opening night of “Clue.” A gaggle of women wore matching dresses with lines from the movie, and a Miss Scarlet in a red gown took a selfie with two friends dressed as Mrs. Peacock and the maid.
People were really looking forward to the on-stage version of the game, and I was eager to see how they managed to pull it off in a 90-minute, one-act play, a part of the Kravis on Broadway series.
As most murder mysteries begin, it’s a dark and stormy night in 1954 New England, and as Yvette, the French house maid for Boddy Mansion, is preparing for a dinner party, she listens to the news about the Red Scare.
One by one, the board game characters arrive at the estate, all having received an anonymous invitation and told to use aliases: Col. Mustard, Professor Plum, Mrs. White, Mrs. Peacock, Miss Scarlet and Mr. Green. Wadsworth, the butler, shares that they all have something in common: they’ve been blackmailed by Mr. Boddy, who has dirt on each of them that will be turned into the House Un-American Activities Committee. Unless, that is, they can play a little game that involves murder, and each is presented with a murder weapon (you know what they are).
Of course, all hell breaks loose as the house intermittently loses power and one character after another is offed. The house itself is a character in the play, with walls opening to reveal new rooms and doors leading to secret passageways. (A guest asks “Who designed this house?” and Wadsworth answers dryly, “The Parker Brothers.”) In a running style not unlike the gang from “Scooby Doo,” the guests comically jog in place as sets are changed from one place to another. During an investigatory montage, the characters split off into pairs to explore the different rooms of the manse, from the library and the billiards room to the lounge and the kitchen. More clues are discovered—as well as bodies.
Each of the characters are funny in their own way, such as Col. Mustard’s dopey one-liners, Mr. Green’s neuroticism and physical comedy (dragging himself across the floor or playing a dangerous game of limbo with a falling chandelier), or hiding dead bodies from the police “Weekend at Bernie’s” style.
In the end when the killer (or killers?) is revealed, it’s through the typical murder-mystery explanation that the play goes south. While the play is filled with quippy punch lines, physical comedy and vintage movie exaggeration, it’s the last 10 minutes that it goes from funny to cheesy. You almost want to tell the cast to quit while they’re ahead. That said, the last few minutes wouldn’t deter me from recommending “Clue,” a play that kept the audience laughing out loud and eager to find out who did it (and where and with what).
After the full cast (all very alive, thankfully) came out for a round of applause, they made a plea for the audience to support Broadway Cares, a nonprofit that provides funds for theatre crews for groceries, medication and healthcare. If you’d like to help, visit broadwaycares.org or go to the show, where you’ll receive swag with your donation.
“Clue” runs at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts through April 19. Visit kravis.org/events/clue.
