The word sleuth conjures images of stealth, duplicity and cunning as pay dirt is wrenched from dark places at great cost.
Sleuth, on stage now at the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse, delivers brilliantly on this impression with mind-bending intrigue and humour. An unravelling of the least admirable of human qualities is laid bare in this clever thriller.
Vengeance, jealousy, betrayal, suspense, humiliation, fear and arrogance mask the truly lovelorn.
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” – until Andrew and Milo.
Victor A. Young plays the part of Andrew Wyke, a best-selling author of detective fiction. He is charming, commanding and wealthy and says “sex is the game with marriage as the punishment”.
He is also a cuckold. Young initially plays the part with a confident gusto that befits the British writer, and later with the sadly apparent emotional downfall of the emasculated.
His mastery of the stage and his role, is backed with talent and a 40-year background of impressive credits, from Mirvish productions and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival to television shows such as Murdoch Mysteries.
James Kall plays Milo Trindle, travel agent and lover to Andrew’s wife. His initial portrayal is sheepish though haughty but later “tempered with madness” after a harrowing game of revenge that Andrew conjures as cheekily as he does his crime plots.
Kall, who has also directed for Drayton Entertainment, runs the gamut of convincing attitudes with skill.
British accents are somewhat indecisive, though increasingly forgotten.
The action takes place in a classic English manor, home to Andrew and, until recently, his wife Marguerite. Her infidelity with the more youthful Milo is out of the bag.
Andrew invites Milo to their home under a guise of civility that degenerates rapidly into a perilous battle of wits. Andrew questions Milos’ ability to keep Marguerite in the lifestyle she has grown accustomed to, setting in motion the games designed to ridicule and neuter each another. The play also serves as a revealing character study.
Sleuth is directed by Marti Maraden, who is new to Drayton Entertainment but a veteran of Stratford and Shaw Festivals and the National Arts Centre. Her astute efforts in creating and maintaining tension culminate in ear piercing screams from the audience.
Also responsible for those screams are the efforts of set designer Allan Wilbee, who has created such an authentic and beautiful 16th century manor. The rich, dark wooden staircase, antiques and ill-fated Toby mugs within the intimate setting of the theatre add greatly to the production. The disturbingly cute mechanical figure erupts occasionally to add to the chills.
Sleuth called upon the expertise of John Stead, a fight director who choreographed bumblingly realistic altercations. Stead is a master instructor with the Academy of Dramatic Combat.
Most will remember Sleuth as an intense 1972 movie starring Sir Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine, who switched to play Andrew for the 2007 remake with Jude Law. Sleuth began as a stage play in 1970 in London’s west end and on Broadway, winning a Tony Award for best play.
Sleuth plays through Oct. 21. Tickets may still be purchased online at www.draytonentertainment.com, in person at the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse box office, or by calling 519-747-7788 or toll free 1-855-372-9866.
