Theater Reviews

Mar 6, 2004 - Reno Little Theater's "The Unexpected Guest" more lethargic than whodunnit

By Jack Neal

The fast sizzle of pace needed to make any Agatha Christie mystery play into a whodunnit worth its salt is missing in the current Reno Little Theater presentation of Christie's "The Unexpected Guest."

The British mystery writer's 1958 play, is - unlike many of her other plays which were adapted from her novels - an original work written for the stage. With taut dialogue, all kinds of plot twists, Christie pulls audiences into the story of a sadistic, wheelchair-bound man, whose wife is found pointing a gun at his dead body.

There are, of course other than his wife, many suspects.

Under the direction of Kathy Easly, there are some fine performances and interesting moments, but the action of the play and interaction between players is much too slow on the uptake to make Christie's thriller thrill.

Granted, I saw the show on opening night (3/5/04), when quite a few lines were dropped creating more plot confusion than Christie intended, but... The first act lasted 90 minutes, a much too long exposition of characters in search of whatever their six degrees of separation might be.

Regardless, the set is a marvel of attractive intrigue (credit Diana Carter and the cast), the lighting and sound are just fine, and Marnie Frank's costumes are just right.

Just right, too, are many performances.

As the young wife, and as the curtain rises band-new widow, Rhiannon Biel may not be the femme fatale Christie envisioned Laura Warwick to be, but she manages the role with an icy cool style that befits her kind of Grace Kelly vulnerability ("Dial M for Murder") for being one of the leading suspects in getting rid of someone so many people wanted to get rid of. Miss Biel is an attractive, gorgeously turned out leading lady who wears all of her lovely clothes beautifully.

In the title role of the "guest," a.k.a. Michael Starkwedder, David Hodges gives an all together winning performance. With a take-charge attitude and romantic good looks, he makes the man wandering in and out of the fog that surrounds the Warrick estate totally convincing. With the exception, that is, of the bravado with which he delivers his final line. Other than that, he is the near perfect leading man to play opposite Miss Biel's near perfect leading lady.

As Jan Warrick, the play's young man with the questionable sanity (he's only slightly on the sane side of daffy), Will Austin provides at times (when he's held in check) a riveting characterization. As the family matriarch and mother of the deceased, Nancy Podewils (Mrs. Warrick) is an old pro and comfortable to watch weave her quiet dramatic spell on stage. Sue Higley is well cast in the role of Miss Bennett, family secretary. She's in top form in her big scene with Jan, in which she gets the nutcake youngster to tell all.

Well cast also are James Kleckner as the mildly inept Inspector Thomas, Jeff Burres as the bumbling Sergeant Cadwallader and John Maes as Jan's creepy male nurse, Henry Angell. That their portrayals are not yet (or were not on opening night) up to steam is what in part takes the starch out of this production.

Always up to steam, and in this play probably no good, is George Randolph (Julian Farrar). Mr. Randoph is one of Reno's most seasoned and best actors. While not particularly well cast in this production, he does nonetheless, provide many magnetic moments that are sheer pleasures to behold. In one of his most subtle and underplayed performances another of Reno's most seasoned actors, James Cashell, plays the corpse of Richard Warwick without missing one cue or dropping one line.

With so much that's good to recommend, let's hope the pacing of RLT's "The Unexpected Guest" will shift into high gear and bring what Agatha Christie intended as a spine tingling murder mystery into the realm of spine-tingling theater.

"The Unexpected Guest" can be seen at the Hug High School Little Theater, 2880 Sutro Street (at McCarran Boulevard), Reno, March 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20 (2004) at 8:00 p.m. and March 7, 14, and 21 at 2:00 p.m. For information call 775-329-0661.