On May 4 and 5, Milton students staged a 1212 studio performance of the riotous one-act, The Real Inspector Hound, by witty British playwright, Tom Stoppard. This show, about a play-within-a-play-within-a-play, is a clever parody that lampoons both theatre criticism and the English “whodunit” genre.
While reviewing a creaky and by-the-book murder mystery, two pretentious and semi-prestigious theatre critics-—Moon and Birdboot—comment on both the melodramatic play and their own dreary lives. Neither critic is really taken with the routine drama, and when a stage phone goes unanswered it proves irresistible for Birdboot who runs onstage to answer it and is then swept up in the hilarity of the complicated plot.
As director and faculty member Pam McArdle explained, “The audience had to be as alert as the actors; almost every line was capable of two interpretations and the play was full of unexpected twists and turns. The cast was fabulous and we all had a great time meeting the demands of this fast-paced farce.”
Cast and Directorial Team
Cast
Moon – Robert St. Laurence (Class II)
Birdboot – Noah Berman (Class IV)
Mrs. Drudge – Leni Vradelis (Class II)
Simon – Steve Wagner (Class III)
Felicity – Samara Oster (Class IV)
Cynthia – Elizabeth Stark (Class III)
Magnus – Frank Smith (Class II)
Inspector Hound – David Foote (Class I)
Radio Voice – Alice Jones (Class II)
The Body – Cullen Heater (Class IV)
Directorial Team
Pam McArdle – Director
Jessica Yanovsky – Assistant Director (Class III)
with Sarah McSherry (III) and Jenell Randall (Class III)