Publication Date: Friday Nov 14, 1997

There's a murderess among us

Fighting boldly through perilous British diction and complex, rapid-fire dialogue, the Menlo Players Guild has come up with a real winner in "Ravenscroft," Don Nigro's modern send-up of the British murder-mystery genre.

Nigro's 1991 play is set in turn-of-the-century England. The general atmosphere is, as the Players' literature describes it, "straight out of a Clue game." It becomes evident soon enough, however, that the proceedings are going to be a bit more, er, candid than the average Colonel-Mustard-in-the-library-with-a-revolver plot line.

The play stars Inspector Ruffing (Brian R. Anderson) as a castaway on an island of female deception. He's called to a large house occupied by five women after the last remaining male in the house, a well-liked stableman named Patrick Roarke, took a fatal stumble down the stairs. This death comes three months after the master of the house died in the exact same way. Ruffing smells a rat, but he's going to have to go through a rat's maze before he digs out the truth.

The first rat is governess Marcy Kleiner (Sarah Green), who confesses to having pushed Patrick down the steps, but strictly, and accidentally, in self-defense. As Ruffing steadily pokes holes in Marcy's account, Marcy throws generalized accusations back in his direction (along the lines of, "Who are you to say what the truth is?")

Next is Mrs. Ravenscroft (Elizabeth Maher), who seems to find the whole investigation boring and bothersome, and finds much more interest in trying to charm the socks (and other items) off the handsome inspector.

The real headcase is Mrs. Ravenscroft's daughter, Gillian (Laurie Waldorfer), who lives in an adolescent fantasy world ("She doesn't lie," says Marcy. "She just interprets reality in a more creative way than most.").

Gillian's strategy is a combination of precocious seduction (obviously picked up from her mother), made-up ghost stories and the all-purpose conundrum response (one of which led to the conclusion that "purgatory is a bad rehearsal.").

The two maidservants are pretty much worthless, Mrs. French (Barbara Brock) because she is lying and not really trying to hide the fact, and the extremely ditzy Dolly (Kelly Gregg Rubingh) because she is obviously under orders from someone else, and couldn't get the real story straight even if she tried.

All of which leaves Inspector Ruffing stranded in a snowbound manor with five lying women, one of whom might be a killer, and thinking he might be the next victim. "I wonder if Sherlock Holmes ever had these problems?" he muses.

Anderson's Ruffing is a masterpiece of understatement--and a good thing, too, because too much steam expended too soon in the face of a marathon of frustration would have left him no room to negotiate. When he finally does blow his stack, his violation of personal space is a martial art worthy of "NYPD Blue" Detective Sipowicz.

The women are consistently strong, with special nods toward Waldorfer, who manages to keep a handle on Gillian's bizarre palette of motives, and Rubingh, who plays a brilliantly frantic (and very physical) Dolly.

The only weakness was Green, who seems to feel the need to follow every line with some sort of gesture or turn of the eyes. Set against the steady--and effective--glower of the Inspector, her constant motion was completely distracting.

The accents of the whole cast faded in and out like unsteady radio signals, leading to a few mushmouthed deliveries, but fortunately not enough to distract from Nigro's snappy dialogue.

In the end, "Ravenscroft" may be worth the trip for the bon mots alone, the best of which comes when Marcy manages to wrap up the whole play with one line: "It's sometimes so hard to find the truth, you're better off settling for the most agreed-upon fabrication."

Either way it's a fun ride, and it's also fun to discover all those kinky goings-on that you always suspected lay beneath those stuffy British murder mysteries. You'll never look at Agatha Christie quite the same way again.

What: "Ravenscroft," presented by the Menlo Players Guild, directed by Alexandra Carter

When: Through Nov. 22; Thur.-Sat. at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

Where: Burgess Theatre, 601 Laurel Street, Menlo Park

Cost: $8-$12

Information: 322-3261 

Back up to the Table of Contents Page