Organic Theater Company
Performing at the Kathleen Mullady Memorial Theatre, 1125 W. Loyola
Tickets: 773-561-5600
Through July 20
Anthony Shaffer’s Sleuth has thrilled and delighted audiences the world over since its premiere in 1970. Organic Theater Company’s current production on the campus of Loyola University marks my third viewing of this remarkable thriller, and it’s just as fun this time as it was the first time.
Sleuth played over 2,300 performances in London’s West End, over 1,200 performances on Broadway, won the 1971 Tony Award for Best Play and was made into a very successful 1974 film starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine.
Anthony Shaffer, the twin brother of Peter Shaffer (Equus, Amadeus, and The Royal Hunt of the Sun) is the author of six plays, Murderer and Whodunit among them. After a short but successful career in the theatre, he turned to writing for film, his most famous work being the screenplays for three films based on Agatha Christie novels, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Frenzy. Mr. Shaffer, who died in 2001, was firmly in control of the mystery genre, and Sleuth is his finest work. With this play and Murderer, he explores the theme that all of us play games - but too many games, especially games that hurt other people, eventually come back to plague the game player.
It’s hard to talk about Sleuth without giving away its secrets, but I can tell you that it is the story of Andrew Wyke (Tony Mockus), a writer of a series of mystery novels featuring St. John Lord Merridew (Wyke’s version of Hercule Poirot). Wyke has invited a young man named Milo Tindle (Tony Mockus, Jr.) to his house. Milo arrives, and it’s not long before Andrew says “I understand you want to marry my wife.” Milo has indeed been seeing Andrew’s wife, and Andrew wants to make a deal. Milo can have his wife with his blessing if he agrees to stage a fake jewel robbery – Milo gets the jewels to fence an Andrew gets the insurance money. Sounds easy, yes? Well, to quote Andrew, “here’s where the plot thickens.”
The basis of Sleuth is games. The very fine two-level set by Joseph Glueckert is littered with games of all kinds. From boxed games stacked on the mantle, to an ancient game of Senat, to a pinball game, you can see that Andrew Wyke is utterly focused on playing games. The most exciting thing about Sleuth is that you never know when the games will end.
Organic Theater Company has been creating groundbreaking work since 1972. In the 1990s, they merged with Ina Marlowe’s Touchstone Theatre, which was then on Halsted Street, and then later moved to Evanston. Thankfully for all concerned, Organic has moved back to Chicago, and is now based at Loyola University.
Ina Marlowe, Organic Theatre Company’s Artistic Director, has cast a father and son team, Tony Mockus and Tony Mockus, Jr. in the roles of Andrew and Milo. The result of that casting is that you end up with two actors who are familiar with each other. The two men have had the privilege of working together many times before, and this is the culmination of their working relationship. Ms. Marlowe has staged the play well, putting all the pieces of the puzzle together, so to speak. She has simply done what the play needs, letting the actors work their magic together.
Each of the two men have some very fine moments. Tony Mockus, as Andrew, shows he is the veteran actor he is. For the vast majority of the play, he is firmly in control of the situation - something that Andrew prides himself on. His Andrew is sarcastic, superior and smarmy. Playing on Milo’s weaknesses, he is easily able to persuade Milo to aid him in his scheme. Mr. Mockus, Jr. is also very good. Milo’s insecurities, notably the realization that his intended is indeed going to cost him more than he originally thought, are what lead him into joining the game, and are ultimately his undoing. Both men lose their dialects from time to time, but both are able to deliver consistent performances. It’s great to watch two actors who are so familiar with each other working together.
Raoul Johnson, as Inspector Doppler, gives a very good and amusing performance as Inspector Doppler. Nick Polus and Robert Ayres also give good supporting performances as Detective Sgt. Tarrant and Constable Higgs.
There isn’t much time left to see Sleuth, but I would recommend that you stop by and see one of the classic mystery plays of all time.
