REVIEW: The Butler Did It

L-R Front: Mike Pearl, Molly Killoran, Matt Block. L-R Back: Clark Brittain, Mark Ivan Branche and Timmi Ann Lasley. Photo Credit: Rita Broderick

The Denver Victorian Playhouse production of The Butler Did It juggles elements of several theatrical genres: old-fashioned whodunit, nail biting thriller, and self-aware backstage comedy. This could be a dangerous combination in the less than capable hands of the amateur community theatres for which playwrights Walter and Peter Marks clearly wrote the play. But Pat Payne is a first rate director, masterfully maneuvering his capable cast through a minefield of potential premise and plot disasters.

The script itself has problems. A supposedly professional Off-Broadway production of a new "whodunit" is days away from opening, and the writer/director (Mark Ivan Branche) has withheld the last few pages in order to keep his immature and amateurish cast guessing, so that they might give more authentic performances on opening night. Tensions mount, egos flare, and the mistletoe hanging above a door is a known source of deadly poison.

It's essential that these be "professional" actors, because ambition, career and reputations are on the line. But only a few have the credentials one might expect of working New York actors. Further, the audience is asked to forget that there is no stage manager, and no technical crew (lighting, props, costumes, etc.) present in the midst of final dress rehearsals.

Further, the whole murder plot depends on an actual, fully stocked onstage bar, complete with working coffee maker (possible) and a variety of alcoholic beverages (preposterous), stocked personally by the director, and from which the cast may freely imbibe during rehearsals and off hours.

That's asking the audience to suspend a whole lot of disbelief, and the only way through it is to keep the pace FAST, which the Vic's cast does, for the most part, until things bog down near the end of the second act. To it's credit, and unlike many plays of its ilk, The Butler Did It has a low body count, minimal profanity and very little scandalously immoral behavior, so that while not exactly wholesome, at least the play isn't egregiously shocking or offensive.

The Butler Did It is a worthy second tier addition to the genre. If this kind of mystery thriller is your "cup of hemlock," by all means see the Vic's skillfully mounted production. The show runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through October 31, 2009.

For information and reservations, call 303-433-4343 or visit www.denvervic.com.