BWW Reviews: THE BUTLER DONE IT at Chaffin's Barn

So capable and hard-working is the cast in Chaffin's Barn's production of The Butler Done It - and director Martha Wilkinson has pulled out just about everything from her estimable bag o' tricks with this one - that they can make even a not-quite-Pulitzer-worthy script work.

John Chaffin's original script might best be described as a "slapstick murder mystery" in the vein of those formulaic 1940s film comedies starring Bob Hope - if you keep that as a point of reference in the back of your mind, it will certainly make The Butler Done It all the more enjoyable, although I suspect that just about anyone can find something or someone to like in this inoffensive little comedy.

Starring a whole slew of Barn regulars hamming it up, The Butler Done It is cliche-filled romp -- and while it covers no new ground, Chaffin, Wilkinson and company are clearly in on the joke and make certain to include their audience in the fun. That's an essential part of the show's hard-won success: Some of the situations are groan-inducing, some of the lines are cringe-worthy and the plot is, well, predictable. But Wilkinson's keen eye for what works onstage and what's really funny, coupled with the estimable efforts of her hard-working cast result in a pleasantly diverting night of theatre. They get it - and they make sure you (the audience member) get it too!

Led by the Barn's new resident funny man Derek Whittaker, who quite possibly could garner guffaws and belly laughs just by reading the phone book (do people still know what phone books are?), The Butler Done It takes place in a supposedly haunted mansion on a dark and stormy night. The mansion is peopled by some mysterious domestics and eccentric owners, so the recipe for hilarity is richly seasoned. Chaffin is an experienced playwright, who knows how to make his audience chuckle and snicker with his double entendres and quick wit - and he's also a fan of murder mysteries - so he's concocted a totally daft two hours of comedy that goes down reasonably well after a bountiful buffet. It ain't Chekhov or Shakespeare, but it also ain't half-bad.

Whittaker plays errant private dick Roger Chambers who loses his way and stumbles upon the big house at the end of the long drive only to find himself caught up in a confusing mystery that's full of red herrings. Whittaker wrings every last laugh out of his lines and, in doing so, completely delights his audience. He's paired romantically with Stephanie LaMura's Opehlia Laterwell and the chemistry between the two is definitely of the '40s comedy variety. Whittaker and LaMura are obviously having a grand time together, sending up all those '40s archetypes while giving them a slightly contemporary edge.

Lydia Bushfield is at her wild-eyed best as eccentric matron Felicia Hightower, who thinks she's dead - apparently, she's a big fan of Noel Coward - and is treated like a ghost by her staff and husband, Arthur (played by the appealingly wacky Charlie Winton), who will remind you of Teddy from Arsenic and Old Lace. Like Whittaker and LaMura, the chemistry between Bushfield and Winton helps make the script work much better, something which comes from trust and experience.

The staff at Hightower Manor is played with the requisite blend of comedy and mystery with a strong dose of nefarious terror by B.J. Rowell as Gardner the Butler, Tammie Whited as Butler the Cook, and Ben Dawson as Cooke the Gardener. (playwright Chaffin loves his silly puns, as does his audience). The three are delightfully over-the-top and confidently play their characters with energetic, yet somehow menacing, glee. Rowell is all sneering obsequiousness underscored by villainy, while no one can play drunk like Whited (who, I swear, needs to get a second job impersonating Bette Midler - I know you're all tiring of hearing that from me, but I mean really...) and Dawson plays his scenes with endearingly reckless comic abandon.

Wilkinson's direction ensures that the scenes move quickly - which is essential to make this script work - and she makes certain that her cast gives a nod and a wink to show that everyone's in on the gag. Her staging of the play is an homage to all those wacky movie mysteries we all love and her imaginative eye makes such grand use of the Barn playing area that you might actually see something new and unexpected.

Mary Jo Kilzer Weaver's lighting design, John Chaffin's set design and June Kingsbury's costume design combine to capture the flavor of the era and the comic possibilities in the design aesthetic, while the musical score is ideal for this comedy.

- The Butler Done It. By John Chaffin. Directed by Martha Wilkinson. Presented at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, Nashville. Through June 5. For further details, visit the company website at www.dinnertheatre.com; for ticket information, call (615) 646-9977.

Stephanie LaMura, Derek Whittaker, B.J. Rowell and Lydia Bushfield in The Butler Done It

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