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Whodunits have always captured the imagination of readers and theatergoers, and no one does it better than the British. American writers produce legal thrillers and cop shows rife with violence, but what is a large segment of the population tuning into many a Sunday night on the telly?
BBC intellectual mysteries with plots inside of plots and the complicated characters that the Brits specialize in.
Playwright Bernard Slade is no Englishman—he hails from Canada—but his “An Act of the Imagination” is so resolutely English in plot and tone you can practically smell the tea roses. Surely that is the scent that the lead actress, Rebecca Edana, has dabbed behind her ears, in this wickedly good whodunit staged by the Hampton Theatre Company in Quogue.
Ms. Edana is Julia Putnam, the English “rose” that a successful mystery writer has snared for his second wife. Matthew Conlon is her husband, Arthur, and he has surprisingly turned out a sensual romance novel, which leads his wife to question the source of the steamy sex scenes he’s written—could her distracted, sometimes dull mate—be having an affair?
In the meantime, Arthur believes that someone is out to get him, and that his own life may be in danger.
A wastrel son, Simon (Jesse Pimpinella), from Arthur’s first marriage lives with the couple, freeloading off his father and siphoning money for one failed enterprise after another.
In marches Brenda (Meggie Doyle), just the sort of lower-class tart one wouldn’t expect the bookish Arthur might have a jolly fling with, but bollocks, why not? Quite a change from his proper wife. Yet the buxom Brenda reveals details and predilections scrupulously that are in sync with Arthur’s character on the page. Supposedly the only people who know what’s in the novel are Julia and Arthur’s editor, Holly (an excellent Amanda Griemsmann). Could Brenda really be the one who had an affair with Arthur? He claims he’s never met the woman!
What real, what’s not, and who could possibly be after Arthur? Others in the cast are James M. Lotito Jr. as Detective Sergeant Burchitt, and Cesa Pledger as Brooke Carmichael, both new to HTC, as is Mr. Pimpinella.
Ms. Edana and Mr. Conlon are well matched as the couple whose marriage needs a bit of plumbing. She gives off a whiff of former sensuality that has been bled away by the treads of time in a comfortable but ho-hum marriage. Mr. Conlon as the always otherwise preoccupied writer is all tweeds, bones and his own blend of tobacco from Dunhill. If we quibble about anything in this overall swell production, it would be that Mr. Conlon explodes at times with decidedly un-Anglican vehemence. A little more of that British reserve might suffice.
Like the writer Arthur whose dabbling in a different genre, the playwright Mr. Slade is not known for mystery, but for light comedy instead. He started in television, writing for sitcoms such as “Bewitched” and later developed “The Flying Nun,” where Sally Field flew about in her habit. His best known stage work, “Same Time Next Year,” was about a couple who are married to others but meet once a year for a weekend. Highly acclaimed in the ’70s, it turned into a successful, but less lauded, film soon after. While “An Act of the Imagination” never opened on Broadway, Slade’s sometimes droll dialogue, as well as the competent troupe under the direction of Edward A. Brennan, let the wit in the writing surface as the plot twists to a satisfying ending. All good.
It’s almost tiresome to say once again how good the circa-1964 drawing-room set is, for the duo of Sean and Diana Marbury, who typically do the sets and décor at HTC, always amaze (this is local theater, not Broadway) and delight. This drawing room has (dried) blood-red walls, elaborate valances, bookcases, urns (with Arthur’s dead wife’s ashes?), artwork, and a small painted chest that together positively scream upper-class England. If the Marburys are for hire, they could do my home anytime.
Costume designer Teresa LeBrun’s 1960s outfits for the women are spot on, down to the circle pin Julia wears on a plaid dress, and Holly’s stiff headband.
Admittedly, I sometimes grouse about the choices of the selection committee at HTC who pick the plays. Not this time. Not with this band of actors. If you like BBC mysteries, “An Act of the Imagination” will tickle yours.
“An Act of Imagination” continues at Quogue Community Hall, 125 Jessup Avenue, Quogue, on Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m., through April 9, as well as a 2:30 p.m. matinée on Saturday, April 8. Tickets are $30, $25 for seniors except Saturday nights, $15 for under age 35 and $10 for students under age 21. Call 1-866-811-4111 or visit hamptontheatre.org.
on Mar 27, 2017