BWW Reviews: Oyster Mill Enters Realm Of Farce With EXIT THE BODY

Bodies are all but falling out of closets in a rented New England home. Is it any surprise that Fred Carmichael's classic EXIT THE BODY was first produced at the Dorset Playhouse in Dorset, Vermont? Crane Hammond, noted detective author, has rented a vacation home in a small New England village, hoping for rest and relaxation, when what she has is a house with missing diamonds, dead bodies, and a swarm of intruders searching for a fortune.

Greg Merkel has re-staged it for Oyster Mill Playhouse, where it's a fine piece of summer fluff, probable corpses and all. Mystery fans and comedy fans alike should be entertained by this show, one of that unfortunately rare combination of farce and whodunit (or, in this case, "whereizzit" with regard to the diamonds). In the best tradition of farce, the cast and audience must contend with one living room set and six doors, not including the unseen but equally unfortunate second door to one of the household closets as bodies, diamond hunters, police, and friends go scrambling about.

Area theatre veteran Marcie Warner plays Crane Hammond, whose vacation is turning into a busman's holiday even as she stands there. Warner brings Hammond an enjoyable bafflement, as she decides that for once, a mystery's solution should be left to the police. The only problem with that idea is... the local police. Mark L. Scott plays Sheriff Vernon Cookley, local sheriff, taxi driver, manure deliveryman, and almost anything else needed around town. He's easily baffled, especially by the amazing appearance and disappearance of Hammond's husband - or is that husbands? Scott, tall, lanky, and laconic, brings Cookley a touch of New England deadpan that's reminiscent of Larry, Darryl and Darryl from the television series NEWHART.

Hammond's martini-dry (and wishing to be martini-plastered) secretary, Kate, is played by Kristen Borgerson Ottens, who gets most of the best lines. Ottens makes Kate the field marshal of Hammond's vacation, who's only more and more agitated as more and more confusion reigns, and as Hammond's attempts to conceal what's going on in her vacation rental produce bigger and bigger lies.

Scott, as the sheriff, steals this show with some nice pieces of physical comedy as well as with a series of firearms maneuvers, exchanged with... someone's... husband, Lyle (delightfully portrayed, as the best-dressed man on stage, by Anthony J. Geraci), that should absolutely not be attempted at home.

This is one of the nicest pieces of farce that's been on Oyster Mill's stage lately, and when farce is done well, there is little better. Multiple husbands, multiple bodies, multiple suspects, multiple possible undercover detectives - of which the sheriff is absolutely not one - and multiple chases, timed nicely by director Merkel, make this a fine choice for spending time on a hot summer day or evening. The music's been chosen thoughtfully as well - hints of the Alfred Hitchcock theme, the ADDAMS FAMILY theme, and other mysterious and spooky period motifs show up before and after the three acts, setting both mood and era quite nicely. Small touches like that can make a show, and the small details have been attended to here.

EXIT THE BODY is at Oyster Mill Playhouse through July 28. Call Oyster Mill at 717-737-6768 or visit www.oystermill.com for tickets.

Photo credit: Stephen Jahn

To post a comment, you must register and login.