BATTLE OF WITS: Wade Wood and Christian Mast try to establish the truth about the fate and identity of a runaway bride in The Denver Vic's suspenseful comedy thriller "Catch Me If You Can." Photo by Brian Brooks.
Is someone paranoid if everybody really IS out to get them? The Denver Victorian Playhouse's fast, funny and suspenseful production of "Catch Me If You Can" seeks to answer that question...or maybe not, depending on what's really real and what isn't.
Tapped from the same comedic and psychological thriller vein as "Deathtrap," "Veronica's Room" and other shows relying on clever dialogue, frightful confusion and murderous mayhem, "Catch Me If You Can" is loaded with mind boggling plot twists and turns, both comical and lethal.
Newlywed Daniel Corban (Christian Mast) files a missing person's report on his runaway bride when she disappears from their honeymoon cottage near Grand Lake, Colorado (the show's updated references and locales add to the fun). Weary and overworked Inspector Levine (Wade P. Wood) tries to calm the disgruntled groom, and is initially relieved when kindly Father Kelleher (Dell Dominik) returns Elizabeth (Robin Wallace) safe and sound...until Daniel insists the woman is an imposter!
Much of the play revolves around discovering and proving who is and isn't who they say they are, especially once it becomes clear that lives are at stake. Except for frequent shouting matches that give the actors no where to go, and relentless trips to the liquor cabinet at times when sober judgment is most required, the play builds momentum to a stunning climax.
The truth will out, but it takes an awful lot of deception to get there.
Director Ed Fronheiser and assistant director Brian J. Brooks keep the action moving in a show where pacing is critical, though the performances could actually be toned down to better match the intimate setting and space of a mountain cabin (beautifully designed by Wade Wood) and a tiny basement theatre.
Some in the cast (I'm not telling you which ones) switch from wry comedy to malevolent manipulation in the blink of an eye. It's a very entertaining, but guilty pleasure. The very heart of the show is rooted so firmly in suspicion, doubt and a sociopathic lack of conscience that even though justice prevails, it still leaves a sad and sour aftertaste in the soul.
"Catch Me If You Can" plays at the Denver Vic through July 12. Call 303-433-4343 or visit http://www.denvervic.com/ for information and reservations.
Tapped from the same comedic and psychological thriller vein as "Deathtrap," "Veronica's Room" and other shows relying on clever dialogue, frightful confusion and murderous mayhem, "Catch Me If You Can" is loaded with mind boggling plot twists and turns, both comical and lethal.
Newlywed Daniel Corban (Christian Mast) files a missing person's report on his runaway bride when she disappears from their honeymoon cottage near Grand Lake, Colorado (the show's updated references and locales add to the fun). Weary and overworked Inspector Levine (Wade P. Wood) tries to calm the disgruntled groom, and is initially relieved when kindly Father Kelleher (Dell Dominik) returns Elizabeth (Robin Wallace) safe and sound...until Daniel insists the woman is an imposter!
Much of the play revolves around discovering and proving who is and isn't who they say they are, especially once it becomes clear that lives are at stake. Except for frequent shouting matches that give the actors no where to go, and relentless trips to the liquor cabinet at times when sober judgment is most required, the play builds momentum to a stunning climax.
The truth will out, but it takes an awful lot of deception to get there.
Director Ed Fronheiser and assistant director Brian J. Brooks keep the action moving in a show where pacing is critical, though the performances could actually be toned down to better match the intimate setting and space of a mountain cabin (beautifully designed by Wade Wood) and a tiny basement theatre.
Some in the cast (I'm not telling you which ones) switch from wry comedy to malevolent manipulation in the blink of an eye. It's a very entertaining, but guilty pleasure. The very heart of the show is rooted so firmly in suspicion, doubt and a sociopathic lack of conscience that even though justice prevails, it still leaves a sad and sour aftertaste in the soul.
"Catch Me If You Can" plays at the Denver Vic through July 12. Call 303-433-4343 or visit http://www.denvervic.com/ for information and reservations.
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