Anonymous invitations. 6 guests. 6 murders. 6 motives. Can you find out who did it?
On May 1st and 2nd, Malden High’s Play Production, led by Ariana Messana, performed Clue, a screenplay by Jonathan Lynn. The story is set in 1954, against the backdrop of the McCarthy era “Red Scare.” Six strangers—all using pseudonyms to protect their identities—are invited to a secluded mansion known as Boddy Manor. They are greeted by an eccentric butler, Wadsworth, played by senior Erin Grondin, and the French maid, Yvette, played by junior Kim Lones.
The stage transformation for this production was impeccable, with seven painted doors representing the different frequented locations and a chessboard-patterned floor being a tribute to the board game. Messana shared that this production was “one of the best” she has seen be “put into action” since working at Malden High, explaining that set work began “all the way back in March.”
“I want to applaud Ms. Messana for doing a wonderful job balancing the actors, the set, and the technicalities—she helped us produce the best production of the year,” remarked sophomore Sofia Rivera.
The guests represented a spectrum of social and political backgrounds including: Colonel Mustard, a pompous military man played by senior Matt Jason Chan, Mrs. White, a woman with a suspicious history of deceased husbands played by Rivera, Mrs. Peacock, the wife of a senator played by sophomore Lyra Heining, Mr. Green, played by senior Kenny Wong, Professor Plum, a psychiatrist played by senior Oscar Luc, and Miss Scarlett, a sassy woman played by junior Alexia Lima, who is also the Managing Editor of The Blue and Gold.
Heining expressed that Clue gave the actors plenty of “wiggle room to play with the themes” and the character portrayals, elaborating that while Sound and Design stuck to creating an “ominous and creepy” tone, the actors “leaned into the slapstick comedy bit.”
From the beginning, the audience can detect an eerie tone as dialogues carried double meanings and characters held animosity toward each other. After the guests discover they are all from Washington D.C., tensions continue to heighten as their host remains absent through the evening and through dinner, causing Colonel Mustard to snap.
Wadsworth then reveals that all the guests are being blackmailed by their host, Mr. Boddy, played by senior Liam Gallagher, for various secrets and scandals. One by one, Wadsworth exposes the guests. Professor Plum, who had his license revoked for conducting an inappropriate relationship with his client; Mrs. Peacock, who accepted bribes to allocate her husband’s votes to lobbyists; Miss Scarlett, who runs an escort service; Mrs. White, who is suspected of murdering her previous husbands; Colonel Mustard, who was photographed frequenting a brothel; And finally, Mr. Green, who is homosexual. Any of these findings coming to light could ruin reputations and jobs.
Luc stated that playing an “educated and cocky, but also sneaky in disguise” character allowed him “to do more funny gestures that added to the murder mystery, but also the comedy aspect of the show.”
Upon hearing these allegations, Mrs. Peacock attempted to leave, only to learn that the manor had been locked. As the guests were sent into a frenzied panic, Mr. Boddy arrived, walking down the Jenkin auditorium as “Sexy Back” by Justin Timberlake played on the speakers. Their host only adds to their panic, revealing that he possesses a briefcase full of evidence and the police are arriving within an hour, proposing to only let them escape if they agree to pay double.
However, he offers an alternative to the guests, claiming that keeping Wadsworth quiet was costing him dearly and removing him would end matters once and for all. To resolve the situation, Boddy presents to each guest a gift box containing a lethal weapon: a candlestick to Scarlett, a dagger to Peacock, a lead pipe to Green, a revolver to Plum, a rope to White, and a wrench to Mustard. He then cut off the lights.
In the darkness, a gunshot rang out, and when the lights turned back on, Boddy lay dead on the floor—or so it seemed. Despite the previous gunshot, Boddy had no bullet wound, leaving the guests wondering what caused his death. It is then that a scream is heard from the Billiards Room.
The scream had belonged to Yvette, who had learned of Boddy’s death after being instructed to tape the conversation in the study for more evidence. Frantically, the guests all claim that none of them was the murderer, and asked if there was anyone else in the manor, to which Wadsworth and Yvette replied, “Only ze cook!”
Yet, upon arriving in the kitchen, the Cook’s body, played by senior Thayla Miranda Carvalho, was found in the fridge with a dagger in her back. Frightened, the guests returned to the study, only to find Boddy’s body had disappeared. Peacock eventually finds him in the hall, truly dead this time, killed with the lead pipe. Meanwhile, Scarlett opens Boddy’s briefcase only to find that it contains no evidence.
Having transferred from another theatre program a few months ago, Carvalho reflected, “I’ve had a lovely experience with Ms. Messana, who gives all the actors plenty of room to use their imagination and put it into blocking and character development.”
The plot thickens as outsiders begin to arrive, each of whom is connected to the guests’ secrets, and end up dead. The first victim is the Motorist, played by junior Gray Herrera, who is killed with the wrench, while making a call in the study.
In the meantime, Mustard suggests that the group split up and search the manor. An amusing montage was created as the characters ran through the painted doors while “Psychokiller” by Talking Heads played. While searching, Scarlett and Mustard find a trap door in the conservatory that leads to the lounge, where Yvette had shot down the door to release them.
As the characters continue their bickering, a cop, played by senior Kail Boswell, arrives. Incessant in inspecting the house, the guests pretend to party, posing the dead bodies as drunk. The tension reaches a breaking point when the electricity is cut, leading to a frantic sequence where the characters navigate the dark, stumbling over bodies and each other. When the electricity returns, the cop is found dead in the library, killed by the candlestick, and Yvette has been strangled in the Billiards Room with the rope.
Amidst the frenzy, a singing telegram girl steps in, only to be shot dead a second later. Finally, Wadsworth goes on a spiel recapping the events of the night, concluding that whoever has the revolver is the killer.
When the revolver is found on Plum, the cops barge into the manor ready to arrest him; however, he claims that Mustard is the murderer. The scene involves several rewinds, and at the end of each, the murderer is someone different.
For the final plot twist, Green reveals himself to be an undercover FBI agent who was planted to catch the others’ crimes. It is then that the audience receives the true tale. The first murder of the night, Boddy’s murder, was carried out by Wadsworth. However, the man killed was not the real Boddy—Wadsworth was. It is explained that Boddy invited the guests not to just blackmail them, but to watch them kill the informants gathered.
“I think acting is about expressing yourself and developing your character by using your own creativity and even life experiences, while placing them under your character’s circumstances,” added Carvalho.
The following murders occurred for these reasons: The Cook was killed by Peacock’s dagger because she used to work for the family and was the one who discovered the bribes, the Motorist was killed by Mustard’s wrench because he was his former driver who drove him to the brothel, the cop was killed by Scarlett’s candlestick because he was accepting bribes to keep quiet about her business, Yvette was killed by White’s rope because she had an affair with her husband, and the singing telegram girl was killed by Plum because she was one of his patients that he had an affair with.
For the final act, Green shoots Boddy, the cops storm the house, and the remaining guests are arrested.
Seeing as this was the last show of the year, emotions ran high between the senior cast members and Messana, who had formed close bonds over their time together. “It’s bittersweet knowing that there are so many people to carry on what Play Pro has in the coming years, but I will miss every moment I had with this class,” expressed Gallagher.
“It always gets really emotional when the seniors are getting ready to go, and while this show kept us busy from thinking about it, after closing night the concept became real. But the beautiful thing about theater is that students always come back. We had alumni come and watch Clue, and became incredibly proud of how the theater program at Malden High has grown,” concluded Messana.
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