Review: CLUE Mystifies Audiences at National Theatre

"A lifelong lover of the game Clue, Peter is thrilled to be in a live-action murder mystery." So read my program bio when I played Major Metcalf in a community theater production of Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap" in late 2024. I have indeed been a fan of the classic Waddington's/Parker Brothers/Hasbro investigation/deduction board game since I was first introduced to it in elementary school, and I frequently lobby for it at game nights. So, for my 25th review for this publication, I return to a familiar haunt.

The new "Clue" stage adaptation is written by Sandy Rustin, and based on writer-director Jonathan Lynn's screenplay for the cult classic 1985 film version of "Clue," featuring Tim Curry, Martin Mull, Michael McKean, Lesley-Ann Warren and others.

If the show has a star, it is Adam Brett as the Butler Wadsworth (Curry's role in the film.) In the opening, he welcomes the audience to Boddy Manor, a large New England estate. In his mannerisms, knowing smile, and fraudulently obsequious tone, Brett calls to mind the Master of Ceremonies in "Cabaret."  The play is set in 1954 against the backdrop of the Red Scare; the main characters are all connected to the federal government in some fashion, and there are several lines which are especially amusing to a D.C. audience. 

In short order, the familiar color-coded ensemble from the game arrives at the manor, having been invited by Mr. Boddy,  the portentously-named master of the house. After dinner, Boddy reveals himself as the man who has been blackmailing all of them for various reasons. Wadsworth apepars, announcing that he has called the police on Boddy, who then presents the guests with the game's famous murder weapons and threatens to expose them if one of them does not kill Wadsworth. After a blackout and chaotic scramble, Boddy appears dead. This launches a frantic effort to discover the killer, which is complicated by further deaths among the house staff and the arrival of law enforcement officers and other concerned parties. After a series of comedic twists and turns, the program's 90-minute run concludes with virtually everyone and everything in the show having been revealed as having been far more than initially met our eyes.

Notwithstanding the aforementioned references to political suspicion and persecution-certainly topics relevant to the present day-"Clue" is simply meant to be fun, and it succeeds at being that. Director Casey Hushion draws fine performances from the ensemble and keeps the show moving at a lively pace. Lee Savage's set plays an indepensible role in the presentation. Shifting walls and trap doors lead us into the classic locales of the manor-the hall, the kitchen, the conservatory, dining room, etc.  Fight director Robert Westley and dance/fight captain Taylor Tveten have crafted kinetic stage movement and conflict for the actors. An amusing recurring motif, again visually recalling the film, has the cast frantically running in place as the set shifts to indicate changes in location.  In addition to Brett, standouts in the cast include Sarah Mackenzie Baron as an icy Mrs. White and TJ Lamando as the anemic Mr. Green.

"Clue" will appeal to both aficionados and occasional players of the board game, as well as to anyone who'd like to step out of the bitter cold in which we find ourselves at present and enjoyan hour and half of spirted whimsy.