Seward’s ‘Clue’ brings comedy, commentary to stage

The Seward High School Theatre Collective this weekend is staging familiar murder mystery “Clue.” The show premiered last weekend, but will play three more times, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 15-17.

Director Meegan Miller said Thursday, Nov. 7, that the show is an opportunity for her actors to experiment with comedy and ensemble. The show features mayhem and slapstick; it also demands up to eight actors share the stage at once, moving together as individual characters but also as a “blob” of action and excitement.

At the helm of that blob is Angel Wagner as the butler Wadsworth. She said that her character gets to be sassy and has a hidden sinister side. Over the course of the show, Wadsworth transitions from the uptight butler stereotype to something “more unhinged.”

“This is a really fun play,” Wagner said. “It’s very heavy topically, but its so comedy-based. You can have a serious topic, but it’s turned into a joke.”

A cast of colorful characters round out the central cohort of “Clue.” Nia Mulholland-Kim is Mrs. Peacock; Somi Clendaniel is Miss Scarlet; Lily Mooter is Mrs. White; Lily Miles-Dafoe is Colonel Mustard; Kameron Smith is Professor Plum and Evelyn Bukac is Mr. Green.

Each of the characters is drawn to the mansion by mysterious letters from an enigmatic host. Shortly after arriving, each are presented with a lethal weapon and in short order someone is found dead. The characters have to work together to solve the murder while contending with their own suspicions of one another.

Mulholland-Kim said that “Clue” is fun because of its comedy, like Wagner citing the dissonance of heavy topics played for laughs. Peacock, Mulholland-Kim said, is “wonderful” to play because of her expressive rants.

“She’s very much out there.”

Another big personality onstage is Miles-Dafoe’s Mustard. She said that stepping into the role of a buttoned-up military man of the 1950s was a stark change from her performance as the goofy Chesire Cat earlier this year.

Throughout rehearsal, Miles-Dafoe said her Mustard has evolved from a monotone, official man to a blustery comic presence with a keen grasp on the central mystery, perhaps less of a grasp on social convention.

Smith said that the role of Plum demanded him learn many more lines than previous theater experience. He said that the costumes were his favorite part of any show — “fun to get in and pretend to be a different person.” Plum gets to wear a sharp vest and jacket ensemble.

Bukac described Green as “our token anxious character.”

“Onstage, I’m kind of a sputtering mess,” Bukac said.

“Clue” is fun for its historical connections and 1950s setting, Bukac said. Compared to other recent productions that the collective has staged, like “Little Women” in 2023 or “Alice in Wonderland” earlier this year, “Clue” brings a satirical element and some incisive commentary on things like McCarthyism and American politics.

“We’re saying that, hey, maybe the world isn’t such a great place,” Bukac said. “We’re not in Wonderland anymore. But there’s something really important about that — exploring that other side of the human mind — it’s a vital shift and we’ve been doing a great job with it.”

The humor and depth of “Clue” wasn’t immediately apparent to the cast, Miller said.

“It was kind of a hard sell to them, that this was as funny as it actually is,” Miller said. “We’re touching on communism, the #MeToo movement is in there, all these little slips of now and things that tie into them — what our political world is like. Then, also, what it is to be a human and know what’s wrong and what’s right.”

“Clue” starts slow, setting the stage and progressing its central mystery, Miller said. But then characters start to die, and the action builds and never stops.

Isabella Wagner plays the maid, Yvette, and said she’s excited to see how people engage with the central mystery, specifically whom they suspect as the murderer.

Several actors cited as a personal highlight a set piece at the heart of the show where each of the characters are split up into pairs. Miller said that sequence had been the most challenging to assemble, but that it created an interesting space for each actor to improvise and get to the heart of the characters.

That sequence is a showcase of the visual comedy of “Clue,” Clendaniel said. As characters weave on and off the stage, she said that the sequence comes to life because each actor onstage is having so much fun.

Clendaniel said she gets to explore Scarlet’s intelligence and power, the way she influences the characters around her. That’s an interesting departure from her previous role as the mother in “Little Women.”

Comparisons and differences to “Little Women” were spoken by several among the cast, including Josie Andrews, who in “Clue” plays both the cook and the singing telegram girl.

While both were dramas, “Clue” brings more levity compared to the “very sad” “Little Women.” There’s also a lot more yelling and kinetic energy in the current show.

Crystal Maddox and Jonas Moseman work in sound and lighting for the show. That means experimenting as the production came together to find sounds, lights and effects that enhance the atmosphere of the play.

“‘Clue’ is very dramatic, a lot of stings and ‘dun dun dun’ moments,” Maddox said. “A lot of big surprises.”

Where Maddox focused on sound design, Moseman said he does lights, working closely with Technical Director Joel Williams to adjust and iterate throughout rehearsals to find the nice lighting that audiences will see at the show.

New to this show are colorful light bars positioned on the edge of the stage that can wash solid color over the action, Moseman said, “which can add a lot of emotion.”

Stage Manager Liberty Hart said that, behind the scenes, a lot of work has been done to tighten up the transitions between scenes. Some of the transitions happen even as the actors are still onstage and performing — as people dressed as waitstaff bring on tables and prepare the stage as themselves an extension of the show.

Hart, too, said that a lot of fun of “Clue” will be in seeing how people interpret it. Her take on the show is different from some of the actors.

“I’m very interested to see how the audience will think through this show, when they’re trying to put together the clues.”

“Clue” debuted last weekend and will continue this weekend at Seward High School. The show will run at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15, and Saturday, Nov. 16. There will be a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Nov. 17. Tickets can be purchased online at shstheatrecollective.weebly.com. General admission is $12, with discounts available for seniors, children under 5 years of age, Seward High School students and families.

For more information, and to purchase tickets, find “Seward High School Theatre Collective” on Facebook.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.