Humor (and murder) just took a bit longer in the ’50s

Spider’s Web premiered in London’s West End on Dec. 14, 1954, and ran for an impressive 744 performances. It remains Agatha Christie’s second longest-running play, after The Mousetrap.

The long-form three act play is a departure for Ms. Christie in some ways. It was originally conceived and produced as a theatre piece (not a mystery novel) for her friend, actress Margaret Lockwood. It was styled for the stage as a “comedy thriller.” Its detective character isn’t a famous faultless sleuth, but a sometimes misdirected and confused mortal. Still, there are plenty of broad and subtle clues and numerous red herrings to chew on in the tale.

For the Main Street Productions’ offering, director Jan Jamison has collected a very well-fitting cast of local actors and actresses for the task. All are capable of playing Brits with apt affectations and accents. They roll through the meandering script with jolly-good senses of their adopted nationality, placing the story in a believable arena.

Phoebe Aldridge as Clarissa Hailsham-Brown. (Photo provided by Main Street Productions)

Phoebe Aldridge takes the role of Clarissa Hailsham-Brown, the mistress at Copplestone Court. Clarissa is a perky young woman who, due to a penchant for exaggeration, is often disbelieved by her friends and family. Ms. Aldridge presents a lively and charming lady whose sharp imagination causes a good deal of the play’s tangled plot.

Alongside her for the adventure are a trio of gents – Syd Loomis as Clarissa’s former guardian Sir Roland Delahaye, Jim Simmons as local Justice of the Peace Hugh Birch, and Jeff Haber as the young and seemingly carefree Jeremy Warrender. All three do fine work with their roles; in fact, Loomis and Haber impressed me with the best efforts I have seen from either of them, while Simmons delivers his usual sharp effort.

In smaller roles, seventh-grader Ava McKee as Clarissa’s stepdaughter Pippa shows great promise with her solid portrayal, Thom Johnson manages to get all the humor he can from his role as butler Elgin, Matt McKee is aptly despicable as the villainous Oliver Costello, Kevin Caraher is effective as Clarissa’s husband Henry, and Erin Chandler is quietly engaging as Constable Jones.

Molly Kraus brings an energetic comedic touch to the family gardener, Mildred Peake, giving the lady a humorous extravagance. Larry Adams does admirable work as the not-always-on-top-of-things Inspector Lord, doing his best to solve the confusing circumstances the inspector is presented with.

As I have indicated, the cast overall does a fine job with the Britishness of the characters they are charged with. My single negative note would be one I seem to consistently offer – enunciation. Doing an accent is a challenge for many actors – almost like speaking a new language. Part of the work of creating the effect has to be detailing one’s pronunciation so as to be understood. Actors Caraher, Loomis, Simmons, Kraus, and Adams all have this skill down pat. The rest lose some of their effective story telling at times because we (both Mrs. K and I) simply cannot understand the words being said. This is a correctable flaw.

Technical aspects are all well-met. The set design by Ms. Jamison and JB Scoble is beautiful and efficient. Costumes by Karen Combs likewise are a boon to the story as are hair and makeup by Tessa Gibbons.

Bottom line: This is an overall fun romp, albeit drawn out in 1950s style. The story itself is indeed a web, and my suggestion to those who plan to attend would be to read the synopses of Acts 1 and 2 in the play’s Wikipedia entry. (Leave Act 3 out if you want to avoid the spoilers.)

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