The hilarity of an actor getting an accidental bonk on the head persists no matter what one’s age, wisdom, profession, or stature happens to be.
Slapstick comedy is somewhat of a universal language, and the Bremerton Community Theatre’s latest production is loaded with its dialect. “Exit the Body,” a mystery farce written by Fred Carmichael will be and acted out by a small ensemble cast beginning Feb. 2 at the BCT.
“Exit the Body” at the Bremerton Community Theatre
Feb. 2-25; 8 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays
Tickets: $10 general admission, $9 seniors/students, $7 children
Ticket line: (360) 373-5152 or 1(800) 863-1706
“It’s February and it’s dark and it’s cold and the lights have been either off or on, and you need something fun that you don’t have to think about,” said actress Rhonda Romaine, who plays Kate Bixley, a central character in the play.
Bixley is the personal assistant to a mystery writer from New York named Crane Hammond — played by Deb Hopper — who has recently rented a country house. The house, however, holds a mystery of its own locked up in the form of hidden diamonds.
Set in 1959 New England, the play revolves around a closet.
“We have dead bodies in the closet,” director David Noonan said, alluding to the play’s title, but holding back in the interest of not giving too much away. “Everything climaxes in Act 3 … it’s a total blackout with flashlights and everybody winds up at the home at 2 o’clock in the morning, searching for the diamonds.”
The final act of the play is laden with comedic staging and action as the characters are coming and going, running around somewhat oblivious to and secretive of one another in a quest for the riches.
Marked by near constant movement throughout, the 10-member cast has been hard at work learning steps and sounds since the beginning of December.
Hosting a gamut of acting experience, the cast is “truly an ensemble cast,” Noonan said. Throughout rehearsal, the players have molded into a unit despite its differences in age. From 16-year-old Jennifer Rose Duran — who plays the role of the housemaid Jenny — to the 60-year-old Jim Martine — Hammond’s husband — the cast has been diversely drawn together.
“It’s been wonderful, everybody is pretty much like a family and we’ve all bonded very well,” Duran said. “It’s been a bit of challenge to learn everything … but it teaches you more about the skill that you can attain.”
Duran said mystery novel lovers would likely enjoy the show, which adds a comical element to the typical case-cracking, treasure-finding, truth-revealing story line.
“There are some characters that aren’t quite what they seem in really shocking ways,” Romaine added.
