By Deardra Shuler
Murder is being
committed and holding in suspense the audience of Creative Arts Unlimited,
located at Varick Community Center (part of Mother
AME Zion
Church ) at 151 West 136th Street in Harlem . “A Sharp
Edge in the Dark,” written by John Ellerbree and directed by Charles E. Wise
has all the elements that come with a murder mystery: deceit, greed, malice,
schemes, false friends, suspects, and a knife wielding killer.
The play begins
with Lil Phillips beautifully singing “Friends Are Forever,” in such sultry
tones, I was sure her song was the precursor to a stimulating play and murder
mystery. The action centered around
Juliette Novack (Vanessa Michelle Charles), the rich widow of millionaire Frank
Novack, who was murdered mysteriously a year or so previously, leaving behind
his widow, daughter and Juliette’s step daughter, Tiffany (Atika Greene), his
secretary and Juliette’s best friend, Della LaRue (performed by Florence Mills).
They were also mentioned in his will along with landlady and partner, Mrs.
Gerber played by Gloria McNeal and a chauffeur named Tony Andrews (Hayze
Barfield). All but Juliette were dissatisfied with their inheritance. Anger, jealousy and greed ensue when the
daughter and chauffeur are left with nothing and Juliette is given the bulk of
the estate.
With so much
potential, unfortunately the play veers off into a tangle of characters too
many to keep up with – there is the disgruntled Peter Simmons (Samuel Roberts)
whose threats against Tiffany and Juliette make him a prime suspect. There is Glynnis, the lounge owner, acted by
Jo-Hanna Daughtrey and the Police Commissioner Joshua Logan (James Ealy) who is
courting Juliette. Other cast members
are Omar Cooke, Anthony Lucas, Kevin Lamar Brown and Allen Craig Harris who
plays the dual role of a doctor and lawyer; all are tossed together in a gumbo
of unnecessary scenes, lengthy production pauses and amateurish stiff and
lifeless acting. However, I must add
that Samuel Roberts as the angry suspect and Florence Mills as the scheming
friend stand out as effective and interesting characters. Unfortunately, several of the actors spoke
too low and stumbled over their lines. The inability of several of the actors
to project caused the audience to miss dialogue that led to essential
clues.
The direction of
Mr. Wise was scattered. He did not weave the play together in a congruent
fashion to best highlight the suspense or mystery. He missed many of the fine points that the
audience picked up immediately. He or an administrator didn’t list on the
playbill the character’s names in association with the actors; or note the
reading of the will being read over a year after the death of Juliette’s
husband, nor camouflaged set props to enable the audience to distinguish
between the homes of the varied characters.
Why was Tiffany ringing the doorbell to her own home? Five minutes or
more passed between scenes while the actors made unnecessary wardrobe changes;
the pointless setting up of a mike in a nightclub scene gave an actor credit
for singing “Friends Are Forever,” when he did not use the mike or even sing
the song. At one point, while the audience
awaited another lengthy scene change, the stage manager walked in front of the
audience to instruct those removing props.
It was also disconcerting to see the actors repeatedly drinking out of
empty glasses pretending to pour liquor out of unopened bottles. I refrain on pointing out other
inconsistencies since it involves the plot.
There were
numerous threats against various characters and against Juliette and Tiffany in
particular. The initial murder at the
play’s beginning was unexplained or as I later found out was explained, but the
actors spoke so low (even though I was in the front row), neither I nor the
audience heard why the murder took place.
Since dialogue is essential in leading the audience to its conclusion,
actors who do not project or seem unanimated provide the audience with no other
recourse but to leave unsatisfied and perplexed.
Having said all
of this, I think I was invited prematurely to review the play. The show did not
start on time therefore the time factor necessary to the play was
thwarted. Due to starting late, the play
ran into the time slot of another booking and thereby the play was concluded
without showing its ending. Thusly, the confused audience never got a resolve
since the production ended abruptly with no announcement explaining to the
audience they didn’t see the true ending.
Thereby, the audience never found out who the murderers were or why they
murdered. The actors’ I’m told never had
a dress rehearsal and was doing the play in its entirety for the first
time. I think had the director done a
few rehearsals of the play prior to showcasing it, he may have caught some of
the discrepancies and been aware of the time needed to run it in advance of
premiering it.
The numerous
mistakes made it hard to give this play a fair review. I do think “A Sharp Edge in the Dark” has
possibility. I can only suggest that the
director view a few murder mysteries so he has a better understanding of how to
weave the play. I do not put the entire
blame on the director however since I do think all concerned played a role in
the murdering of this play. I suggest
the writer and the director return to the drawing board with all concerned
taking heed of my critique. Hopefully
they will make corrections before their next performance on Saturday, November
15th at 2:00pm wherein at such time they resurrect the play giving
it the life it deserves.
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