Farcical Barnaby charms

Marcella Veneziale Arts Editor

This weekend, Philaletheis—one of the oldest campus organizations and most widely-recognized theater group—performs But Why Bump Off Barnaby?, a comedy of errors which spoofs the popular 1940s murder mystery genre. The play was written by Rick Abbot, whose repertoire includes other farcical plays such as Class Musical! and Allocating Annie. Director Jeffrey

King ’07 commented that the group was mostly faithful to the original script, with some minor changes made.

King also directed last semester’s No Exit, based on Jean-Paul Sartre’s sober drama. “I wanted to do something lighter and comedic,” said King, and chose But Why Bump Off Barnaby? after trolling through countless other obscure comedic murder-mysteries. The production is completely student-run, and when asked about preparations for the play, King commented, “It’s been a long time,” and noted that the cast has been rehearsing for six weeks and counting, with a well-deserved break for fall recess.

The play is a comedic mystery which resembles the melodrama of the Clue murder mystery series. No mystery genre cliché is left uncovered. The scene is an English country estate, and its owner, the Duke, must choose an heir apparent for his fortune, which has dwindled to nearly nothing over the years. The exaggerated British accents of the Duke’s maid and butler and their inane quibbling open the story, as they prepare for several weekend guests’ arrival. The guests begin to arrive one by one, with Barnaby, the Duke’s American nephew, entering first. We learn that the two have not seen each other for a considerable time, and an informal reunion takes place between them.
The other guests begin to show up, with the characters seeming to have been cribbed from a campy British mystery program. Lady Barbara Fenwick, the Duke’s deaf sister-in-law, misunderstands nearly everything the other characters say, which lends a comedy-of-errors atmosphere. Rosalind, the nosy neighbor and sycophant attempts to seduce the Duke in a too-obvious manner, while the self-absorbed American movie star, Cleo Barton, arrives with her hanger-on boyfriend, Jeffrey Barnett. As Barnsy, the Duke’s former nanny, arrives, a thunderstorm (predictably) begins. The final character to grace the stage is dim-witted Dora, whose misunderstandings contribute to a slew of antics.

The set plays as important roles as the actors themselves do. Elisha Schaefer ’07 constructed the boxed, or closed, set, and created a forced perspective in which the front of the stage is larger than the rear. A two-dimensional effect, which King likened to “a comic book,” is established due to this reversal. Other elements heighten the comedic and mysterious aspects of the performance, including a revolving wall, moving benches, and secret panels for the characters to explore.

But Why Bump Off Barnaby? has not been a popular play since it was first published in 1981. King said that it was “not performed frequently” and that the obscurity of the work led him to choose it out of several under consideration. Besides some slight changes in the set, the play will be performed as Abbot wrote it on Nov. 11 and 12 in the Shiva.