Taking a fairly straightforward mystery and giving it a theatrical spin is what live theatre is about. And Vertigo Theatre takes this lesson to heart with Peril in the Alps by Steven Dietz, based in part on Agatha Christie’s ‘Poirot Investigates.’ In this production, director Clare Preuss’ theatrical spin is having four artists play nearly 30 different roles. It makes the entire play more compelling and interesting, especially since Peril in the Alps requires so much backstory. It’s almost the entire first half of the play, with the bigger action taking place in the second half. But even that action is muted. The thing about this production is that there isn’t any real danger, there isn’t any tension or fear. It’s more fun than fear, which makes for a light production but there isn’t any skin in the game, for the audience or for the characters on stage. This is a feel good mystery, with murder and death and blackmail, but you know that everything will turn out in the end. It’s Mystery Lite.
Captain Hastings (Austin Halarewich) is back from his honeymoon with Dulcie Duveen (Heidi Damayo). They soon discover that Dulcie’s twin sister Bella has been kidnapped and is being held hostage. Who better to investigate than Hercule Poirot (Graham Percy). He also had an interesting case come up for him that may be linked. The team gets back together to investigate Duveen’s disappearance and who her captors might be. Damayo, Tyrell Crews, Linda Kee, and Aidan Laudersmith play all the other characters on stage, making the production seem like it’s a 15 person cast when it’s not.
Percy is a solid Poirot and shows off his comedic chops when he skis down a mountain on a stage designed with very little in the way of props. It’s a minimalist stage design that works. Halarewich brings quite a bit of charm to Captain Hastings and his asides to the audience are on point. It’s also nice to see a fresh face on Vertigo’s stage. Crews always got laughs as the anonymous kidnapper and his talents were a bit underutilized. Laudersmith is also a fresh face on Vertigo’s stage and brings a great energy to his characters.
Hanne Loosen’s set is simple, clean staging, with the suggestion of mountains in the background. Hats drop down from the ceiling when the investigation moves to a hat shop. There are various platforms on stage to symbolize different locations. The costume design is versatile and quick to take on and off, as artists change into different roles. A small funicular is seen to go up a mountain on stage and with a theatrical trick we know that Poirot is in it. It’s a brilliant bit of staging that is quite clever. Anton deGroot’s lighting design along with Peter Moller’s sound design and composition fill in the rest of the minimalist staging, allowing our imaginations to fill in the rest.
Peril in the Alps is a theatrical production, without the tension, drama, or fear of real peril. It makes for a good evening at the theatre, if you want to be completely sure that none of the characters are actually ever in danger.
Vertigo Theatre’s production of Peril in the Alps runs until December 14th. More information is available online.
Photo: The Cast of PERIL IN THE ALPS, Photo by Fifth Wall Media.