Broadway in Boston's 'Clue' is a superbly acted whodunit

A dark, wood-paneled mansion becomes a house of horrors and comedy in Broadway in Boston’s entertaining production of “Clue,” through May 5 at the Emerson Colonial Theatre. In the play, six well-heeled individuals with a lot to lose show up for a fancy dinner party on a stormy night and are unwillingly pulled into a game of cat and mouse in this superbly acted whodunit.

Written by Sandy Rustin with additional material by Hunter Foster and Eric Price, the stage show (not to be confused with the musical) is based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn written for the 1985 film. (The movie was inspired by a board game of the same name.)

The show's overt schtick bordered on absurdity in the best way (think Steve Martin and John Hoffman’s hit Hulu show “Only Murders in the Building”) and showed up in simulated running scenes throughout the mansion, intentionally unbelievable plastic pools of blood, and a three-minute murder spree. Also, a meat cleaver was brandished in the first few minutes of the play, foreshadowing a monstrously funny and deadly show ahead.

Casey Hushion artfully directs the production, which runs at a fast clip. The cast kept audiences laughing with their silly antics while they and their host for the evening, the butler Mr. Wadsworth (Mark Price), searched for clues to identify the killer. In some more physically demanding scenes (made more exciting by fight captain Greg Balla with fight direction by Robert Westley), Price’s Mr. Wadsworth, Joanna Glushak’s Mrs. Peacock and John Shartzer’s Mr. Green had particularly memorable moments. The ensemble did a fantastic job of distinctly defining their characters with accents, body language, and other displays of physicality throughout.

Scenic designer Lee Savage had a significant hand in bringing the right elements together to immerse the audience into the action in this production, set in 1954 New England. The wood walls of Boddy Manor (go ahead and groan) were extremely tall and created a sense of grandeur, and its large windows showed a dark, cloudy sky. There was a billiard room with pool sticks, a sitting room with red wallpaper, red curtains, a gold fireplace cover, and a clean white tiled kitchen with knives and other cutlery on the wall.

Costumer Jen Caprio impeccably dressed all of the ensemble members in the mansion, but the pretentious Mrs. Peacock — complete with a bird’s feather on her head, a lacy dress, matching bag and cat-eyed glasses — was particularly apropos.

This darkly funny production of “Clue” is the epitome of more is more. There are some unexpected twists and turns when finding out who the killer is and the motive(s) behind the deaths, but playwright Rustin succeeded in creating a light, funny story that aims to entertain.

Broadway in Boston’s “Clue” runs through May 5 at the Emerson Colonial Theatre.