In ‘Murder’ Case, Subtext Is Victim

Don’t be fooled by the title “Murder by Misadventure.” It sounds like one of those run-of-the-mill mystery plays that were churned out in the ‘30s and ‘40s. Playwright Edward Taylor’s exercise in mayhem and mirth, at the Huntington Beach Playhouse, is far from those.

The play is a snazzy joke with more twists and turns than a Pennsylvania road map. To give away much of the plot would be unfair. The surprises, including the final curtain topper, are too delicious.

The play, which was a success on London’s West End in the early ‘90s, concerns two volatile television mystery-writers who are highly successful and greatly mismatched.

Harold Kent is married, has invested his earnings wisely, lives in an ultra-modern condo overlooking the English Channel, and has begun to hate his writing partner to the point where he announces that he wants to split up the team. The partner, Paul Riggs, is an alcoholic wastrel, squandering his hard-earned cash on booze and flighty women, and still living in a squalid bachelor flat.

Riggs doesn’t want the split. He tells Kent that he has a new plot ready to roll, about a man lured into and deserted in the mountains and left to die by hypothermia, or freezing to death. The perfect murder. Riggs also has an ace up his sleeve to keep the partnership intact, having discovered Kent’s embezzlement of $90,000 in a former career and threatening to expose him.

So what’s left for Kent to do before he and his wife leave for a vacation in the U.S. but to lock Riggs on their balcony in a freezing English Channel winter? The presumption is the body will be dramatically discovered six weeks later on their return.

The perfect murder. But don’t count on it. That’s exactly where the fun begins.

Taylor’s dialogue is crisp, modern and insightful and full of humor. In this staging, Todd Parker’s set even looks realistically like the gadget-infested condo it’s supposed to be; Loretta Lupo’s costumes are appropriate to the time and place, and John Fejes’ lighting design makes one feel the cold whistling outside the sliding glass doors that lead to the balcony.

Director Darlene Hunter-Chaffee has assembled an able cast, with just the right hint of dialect and the right look. Her staging is bright, and her tempos have the crispness they should have.

The only thing that is missing, and this can be laid at the feet of the director and the actors, is a richness of characterization, in all instances, that would provide an insightful glow beneath the clever patina.

The script is the star here. The performances are pretty much on the surface, never going very far behind the words. Greg Maragos is buoyant and correctly offhand as the drunken Riggs, and Christi Sweeney is correctly harried and nervous as the wife.

Michael Havnaer has some amusing moments as Police Inspector Egan, but unwittingly, through his lightness, gives away his own secret long before its time. The most solid performance is Robert Parish’s real and honest portrayal of Kent.

All could be much more, and their clues are right there in the script, with its subtlety and intricacy, hinting at a subtext the company hasn’t discovered.

* “Murder by Misadventure,” Huntington Beach Playhouse, 7111 Talbert Ave., Huntington Beach. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Sept. 1. $10-$13. (714) 375-0696. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.

Robert Parish: Harold Kent

Greg Maragos: Paul Riggs

Christi Sweeney: Emma Kent

Michael Havnaer: Inspector Egan

A Huntington Beach Playhouse production of Edward Taylor’s thriller. Executive producer: Malcolm Armstrong. Producers: Catherine A. Stip, Bettie Muellenberg. Directed by Darlene Hunter-Chaffee. Scenic design: Todd Parker. Lighting design: John Fejes. Costumes: Loretta Lupo. Sound design: Mark D. Lyen. Stage manager: Denise “D” Kenney.