An unpopular businessman. A trophy wife. A jilted (wannabe) lover. A ditzy typist. A jealous assistant. A trying-to-be-helpful-but-
A whodunnit is a tale as old as time. Told time and time again. Poirot. Drew. Holmes. The Hardy Boys. Clue. Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown. The structure is familiar but that’s why we love it. Who will figure it out first? Us, the audience, or the characters themselves? Is it the obvious suspect? Or the unsuspecting one. Pun intended.
Deep Cove Stage Society’s upcoming production of Busybody by Jack Popplewell breathes new life into this tried and true form that is the murder-mystery genre. Part of the genre’s charm is knowing what to expect. Boy meets girl, they like each other but cannot be. An almost kiss. A misunderstanding. A reconciliation followed of course by a happily ever after. In a murder mystery we begin in the antithesis of the happily ever after: a body has been found. The groundwork of clues is laid, red herrings abound, everything falls apart, the initial suspect is often proven innocent, and at last justice is served.
But context is everything. In 2023, how do we elevate these words off the page? Do we imbue newfound strength and independence into the long-standing tradition of the much-younger trophy wife? Is an affair an act of betrayal or one of liberation? How do allegations of a boss’ handsy-ness play today? Can women support each other when they all have a vested interest in the same man? Does the cleaning lady still get undermined due her lower status despite her clear intuition on the case? Does a sick person sneezing and sniffing their way through the work day still send chills down our spine in a post-Covid world? Or have some things never changed.
Do all these expectations get subverted? Was it the cleaning lady after all? Was the murder a crime of passion, or merely an unfortunate accident? There’s a whole world outside the lavish office of Mr. Marshall, the deceased — what are these characters up to when they’re not in it? Covering their own tracks, perhaps? Or when all is said and done, was it the not-so-doting wife with secrets of her own? Was there even a dead body to begin with? Or is the whole case just one of gossip gone a little too far?
Theatre is of course called drama for a reason. And as suspicions mount and alibis are built and then destroyed, it comes clear that for the eight-person ensemble of Busyhody, the greatest obstacle in solving this murder, will be each other. Will egos be overcome in time for the murderer to be revealed? Who’s to say. You’ll have to come and see to find out. Get those detective hats on and magnifying glasses polished, because there is a murder to solve.
Busybody, by Jack Popplewell and directed by Sandra Medeiros and Sarah Arnold, runs March 30-April 15 (Thurs-Sat 8pm, Sun April 9 and 15 at 2pm). Tickets available at https://deepcovestage.com/. Adults $22, Students/Seniors $20.
Cast:
Lily Piper – Rhona McCallum Lichtenwald
Richard Marshall – Robson Baker
Det. Constable Goddard – Sheida Canary
Det. Superintendent Baxter – Matt Loop
Claire Marshall – Rachel Ruecker
Marian Selby – Sandra Medeiros
Robert Westerby – Andrew Fraser
Vickie Reynolds – Anna Robinson
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