A funnier, if not better, ‘Mousetrap’ at Vanguard

Tom Titus

Gales of laughter at an Agatha Christie murder mystery are about

as unexpected as, well, the Angels in the World Series. But stranger

things have happened -- and, indeed are happening.

There’s really not much to laugh at in Christie’s signature

mystery play “The Mousetrap,” but that doesn’t stop the performers at

Costa Mesa’s Vanguard University from ferreting out all the funny

business in its current production.

Christie painted most of her characters as eccentric oddballs --

unwittingly inspiring the board game “Clue” in the process -- when

she penned this whodunit set in a snowbound resort. The play has been

running continuously in London for more than half a century.

At Vanguard, director Gregory Mortensen has encouraged the actors

playing guests at the inn to amplify the peculiarities that loosely

define their characters, resulting in some over-the-top

interpretations. All this silliness evaporates, however, once murder

rears its ugly head late in the first act.

When the game becomes a matter of life and death, the performances

segue, for the most part, into the traditional mold, as each in turn

disputes his or her part in the crime. For those few who haven’t seen

“The Mousetrap,” the element of suspense takes hold of the production

with authority.

Tammy Joelle Coffin (who alternates with Danielle Melilli in the

role of a novice innkeeper) exudes a delicious warmth and

vulnerability. Sunny Peabody, one of Vanguard’s finer talents,

seethes effectively as her jealous husband, who resents the attention

his wife pays to certain other guests.

Adam Eugene Hurst is a flouncing reincarnation of the late

entertainer Tiny Tim in his posturing, overly chatty depiction of a

would-be architect who has usurped the name Christopher Wren. Chrissy

Tiholiz is stern, and one of the play’s few humorless personages, as

the retired jurist Mrs. Boyle. The other dour character is the

mannish Miss Casewell, nicely rendered by Mary House.

Director Mortensen lends an understated authority to the

background role of Major Metcalf -- no apparent relation to the

actress Desi Metcalf, who takes on the character of the mysterious

Italian Paravicini, a role usually portrayed by a male actor, with a

continental flourish.

As the detective sergeant summoned to investigate a murder before

it actually occurs, Timothy Larson renders a strong, exasperated

interpretation. Larson employs a well-calibrated sense of ominous

foreboding as he seeks to discover which of the guests might be

involved in the crime.

The action is played out on a meticulously delineated drawing room

setting designed by Tim Mueller. The costumes and makeup by Lia

Hansen preserve the 1948 period nicely, while Dan Volonte’s lighting

effects and the sound designs of Edward Portillo and Austin Henken

lend further credence.

There still remain a few theatergoers who haven’t seen “The

Mousetrap” (one accompanied me to Saturday’s performance). For them,

this classic whodunit will offer particular enjoyment.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His

reviews appear Thursdays and Saturdays.