WRV Players Excel
In Stoppard Play
By Charlie McMeekin

Two words should be enough to get you over the mountain to see The White River Valley Players current production of "The Real Inspector Hound": Tom Stoppard.

He’s the wit who brought the world "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead," "Shakespeare in Love," and "Fifteen Minute Hamlet," among hosts of others. Those two words ensure an evening of witty dialogue and creative characterization.

Community theater. Yet again, the Players have given flesh to all of the idealistic claims about small-town values and the family of theater. The eight talented women and men who take the stage come from Vermont’s smaller towns, but they bring big talent and enthusiasm for tackling quality theater and presenting it to friends and neighbors. Tara Race, who plays Mrs. Drudge the housekeeper, Kep Taylor as Simon Gascoyne, and Alan Moore as Moon, the second-fiddle theater critic, all showed a mastery of creating comedy through facial tics and quirks and the use of silence.

Peter Riley and Greg Crawford achieve their comedic effects more through madcap silliness, and Janine Reeves bravely tries to be the serious actress, the foil to everyone else’s lunacy. She must also deal with the tempting presence of the seductive Felicity Cunningham, played by Mian O’Dowd.

Ethan Bowen as Inspector Hound wraps it all together and demonstrates why he’s still spending time in professional theater. He alone is worth the price of a ticket, but by no means eclipses the talents of his colleagues on stage.

British comedy. You either like it or you don’t. Tom Stoppard shares his heritage with Monty Python, David Niven, and all of those who put themselves in the public eye, say and do the most ridiculous things imaginable, and keep a straight face the whole while.

"The Real Inspector Hound" has no footing in a real world. It’s the only play I’ve seen where a corpse occupies the stage throughout, to no one’s concern! Two drama critics who have come to see a play, a murder mystery, end up on the stage, in the show, while two of the show’s characters assume the critics’ box seat and observe the action as the final curtain falls. If you can sit through the evening without laughing out loud, you’ve broken your funny bone, or should cancel your trip to England.

Cool set. One hallmark of the players is that they can be depended on to transform the stage at Rochester High School in wonderful ways. This production features a specially built sofa, two theater boxes, and an amazing fireplace, all tied together in a series of colorful arcs and arches. Spend a moment thinking about just who is the mighty hunter pictured in the oil painting above the mantle, and what is that at his feet!

Short evening. Audience members from over the mountain from Rochester often express concern about late nights and a long drive. This show is a gift to them. It is a long one-act, about 65 minutes, but it is just a one-act. You’ll be on the road home before 9:15, and will still have enjoyed a rich and full evening of theater.

Good fun. These may be the most important two words of all. It was, plain and simple, a fun night out. The Real Inspector will run next weekend, with performances at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, the 10th and 11th.

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