Six very different guests have been invited to Lord Rancour’s island estate for a weekend getaway.
Each one of them thinks they’re the only guest, until they all show up at the same time. There is confusion, then a violent storm that wipes out the only bridge, trapping them along with three servants and a mysterious stranger – all together in the grand manor house.
When someone is murdered, it’s a race against the clock to figure out who pulled off this murder before more people fall victim.
“They’re trying to figure out whodunit before they get done in,” said co-director Stephen Lajoie.
It will be up to you to solve the case this weekend as the Community Players of Concord perform three shows of Something’s Afoot, a musical murder-mystery spoof of the works of Agatha Christie, especially her detective novel And Then There Were None.
“This is a story where you don’t want to give any specifics away,” said co-director Jim Webber.
There’s Miss Tweed, played by Kim Lajoie, who is the show’s amateur detective. She is determined to figure out who the killer is and will stop at nothing to crack the case. Webber said to think of Jessica Fletcher from Murder She Wrote.
Also in the house is Rancour’s greedy nephew Nigel (A. Robert Dionne); Geoffrey (David MacNeill), a young college student; and Hope (Rachel Hunton), a young female with a mysterious past.
Players’ veteran Wallace Pineault plays the role of Colonel Gillweather, a retired military man, while Jonathan Flower takes on Dr. Grayburn, the country doctor of Lord Rancour.
Clive, the estate’s butler, is played by Dano Knobel. Tess Hodges is Lettie, the maid, and John Conlon portrays Flint, the estate caretaker.
And then there’s Lady Manley-Prowe (Ellen Burger), a mysterious woman who is assumed to be quite wealthy, but is not so believable with her mispronunciations and checkered past.
“And they’re all there for various reasons,” Webber said.
This show has been on Lajoie’s bucket list to direct since he saw it at Saint Michael’s Playhouse in Vermont in 1979. It was the summer before he went to the school and he went to watch because a friend was in it.
“I just remember how funny it was and how much fun the show was,” Lajoie said.
Since the story takes place in the 1930s in an old English manor, the set is quite involved. It includes a two-story staircase, two doors on the second floor and plenty of fine details. Lajoie had pitched it to the Players’ board before, but the hesitation came with the set build and design. It also includes quite the special effects display.
This year, they said “yes” for the spring musical. It includes 11 fast-paced numbers that Webber describes as British music hall/pub music. It’s a small cast with just 10 actors, which shrinks at least once – and maybe more – during the course of the show.
“Oddly, it’s not all that well-known,” Webber said.
The age range of the characters also fits perfectly with the scope of those who traditional audition for Players’ shows.
“It was just a good fit for the Players,” Lajoie said.
Performances are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Concord City Auditorium. Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for juniors (age 17 and under) and seniors (age 65 and older).
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit communityplayersofconcord.org.