Less is more for ‘Murder’

Agatha Christie loves to mix a motley crew of characters, each with a motive for murder and an equally compelling explanation of their innocence, add an often unusual but always potent murder, and then challenge the audience to decipher “whodunit?”

The Driftwood Players bring Christie’s web of intrigue to the stage with a production of one of her lesser known works, “Go Back for Murder.” Adapted from the novel “Five Little Pigs,” the show features five possible suspects, one dead womanizing artist, and an adept sleuth, barrister Justin Fogg (Thomas C. Phiel II) in place of the famous Detective Hercule Poirot.

The heroine, Carla Crale (Dayna Childs), is determined to reveal her father Amyas’ true murderer. Her mother, Caroline, convicted of the crime, died in prison but not before sending her daughter a letter proclaiming her innocence. Carla is driven by a passion for the truth.

With the assistance of Mr. Fogg, the son of her mother’s attorney, Carla wants to find the five people who were present the day her father died. When she finds them, she will gather them at her parents’ home and choreograph the re-enactment of that fateful day. When it is over, if Carla has her way, the real murderer will be revealed.

In the first act Carla, with Fogg’s assistance, tracks down each of the five possible suspects. They meet, they talk and, although it is interesting, this preparation for the second act is slow. When the group finally gathers at the country home, we meet Amyas Crale (Gregory Magyar), the victim, whose creative and passionate personality combined with Magyar’s energetic performance infuse the show with new life as the murder unfolds.

As the group begins to relive the murder, it becomes apparent that everyone has a motive: Elsa (Erica Evans), Amyas’ young model, learns that despite his promises, he had no intention of marrying her. And Amyas treats equally badly the others: Philip Blake (Dennis McCabe), his friend; Meredith Blake (Steve Johnson), Phillip’s brother and a neighbor who has a laboratory filled with “cordials and potions”; Angela (Brandi Shepherd), Caroline Crale’s younger sister who lives with them; and her nanny, Miss Williams (Debbie Fetherston).

Still, Magyar’s long, curly-haired Amyas is an artist whose charm is difficult to ignore, even for his wife, who is aware of his affairs. He’s the bad boy everyone hates but can’t resist. Magyar’s appearance in the second act ignites the entire cast, their characters evolving and flourishing in response to his outstanding and flamboyant performance.

In Act 2, the actors portray themselves — 16 years earlier — with Childs (Carla Crale) assuming the role of her mother Caroline, a role in which she appears much more comfortable. Equally good are Evans as the young Elsa, the artist’s model captured by the older artist, and Phiel as Fogg, the overseer and narrator of the action.