Go see ‘Sleuth’ at Village Theater (but keep it a secret!) | Arts & Culture

The newest production at The Village Theatre in Issaquah is a Tony-award winning cat-and-mouse game, called Sleuth. Anthony Shaffer’s play premiered on Broadway in the early 1970s to great acclaim. You may know the Village as the home for musicals, but every winter, they produce a non-musical play in their season.

Sleuth starts with wealthy mystery novelist Andrew Wyke inviting Milo Tindle to his elegant, isolated country house to settle a bit of unpleasant business. Tindle is suspected of being involved with Wyke’s wife!

Martin Charnin is directing this play and actually knows the environment of the original play. “Shaffer was a fan of Steven Sondheim and knew him. Sondheim would play parlor games like charades and word games and Sondheim’s townhouse in Manhattan is basically replicated by Shaffer in the setting of Sleuth,” Martin reminisces.

Martin saw the play when it first appeared on Broadway in the early 1970s. “When Shaffer wrote the play it was tremendously entertaining and tricky. It won the Tony Award and then kind of disappeared from the scene. I don’t know that there has ever been a revival on Broadway of it. But it’s full of language and subtext and it’s a constantly surprising play.

“It also fed into something that I find greatly entertaining which is puzzles. I’m a fan of the NY Times crossword puzzles. I’m particularly fond of the ones that have hidden clues, clues inside of clues. Your brain power is put to task in those kinds of puzzles.”

Martin was one of the creators of the musical Annie, and has won Tony awards, Grammy awards and others. His love of lyrics and words has been a large part of his working life. But, he adds, “They don’t do plays like that anymore. This is like Agatha Christie and harkens back to a tradition that seems to have disappeared in this country.”

Martin and the Village Theatre are hopeful that you won’t tell the secret of the play, once you’ve seen it. They want people who don’t know the story to be surprised and puzzled. At intermission, Martin wants  you to ask, ‘What’s going to happen next?’ and not ‘What are we going to have for dinner?’ “A good mystery hooks you early and keeps pulling you toward its ultimate conclusion,” Martin explains.

“The audience is asked to go along and experience the play as the characters are experiencing it, and try and figure it out. One of the great satisfactions, for an audience, has always been the attempt to figure out ‘whodunnit’ before the curtain comes down. It’s also very funny.”

When the play debuted, it was contemporary for (that is, set in) the 1970s. Martin says, “It’s very universal and relevant to the year 2011. It’s not being done as a piece of history. It’s not dated except by virtue that there are no computers on stage or cell phones. Wyke’s a writer who writes on a Remington or Royal typewriter. The heavy black things. I’m not revising it to update (the timing). I wouldn’t do that.

“I have a terrific team of people working diligently at Village on all the details that this play needs and they’re considerable in order to keep Shaffer’s intentions alive on the stage. The lights of the lamp (for instance) need to be the right kind of wattage for the 1970s and the labels of the bottles of gin consumed can’t be American gin.”

Martin needed two strong actors to bring the play to life. David Pichette and MJ Sieber have long resumes in a great variety of plays in the region. Martin remembers, “The first play I saw when I came here was Jumpers with David Pichette. I’ve been a big fan of his ever since and I think this is tailor made for him. MJ is a splendid actor and is a perfect foil for David.”

As the play opens, this week, Martin is enthusiastic about his experience. “Shaffer has a great gift for language and there are some words on the stage that are edible. They’re succulent. It’s thrilling to hear on the stage.

“I’m having a wonderful time, I think the actors are happy and the crew is happy and we just have to finish up the finals details as we enter tech week.”

For more information about the play or for tickets, you can go to www.villagetheatre.org or call (425) 392-2202. Performance dates in Issaquah are January 20-February 27. The play moves to Everett Performing Arts Center from March 4-27.