Entertainment Editor: Lisa Dufresne
e-mail: guidon@norwich.edu

Pegasus Players presents twists
in The Real Inspector Hound

By Timothy Hession
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

Have you ever enjoyed an exciting game of "Clue" by Milton Bradley? Have you ever tried to figure your way through the mystery of "Who Done It?"

On Friday, Nov. 11, and Saturday, Nov. 12, the Pegasus Players of Norwich University performed "The Real Inspector Hound," a comedy by Tom Stoppard.

The cast and crew were excited to see how the audience would receive this play. With all of the plot twists and turns, it was hard to figure out which character actually killed whom.

Dan Johnson and Gavin Crain, who acted as critics of another play within this play, played the main characters Birdboot and Moon.

Through out the production, these characters deal with their personal issues as well as commenting here and there about their opinion of the play.

Moon, a second string critic, sees himself in a better light, because Puckridge is the third string critic. This gave Moon a bit more confidence in himself to carry on. Moon wonders if the envy of his third string critic is all that stands between the two.

Birdboot can only think about the women in the play and how he can get involved with them; however, he is a married man.

Like most people who want something they cannot have, he sees nothing incorrect with cheating on his wife, Myrtle, and ignores any clues that this is the wrong thing to accomplish.

To get Birdboot in front of the audience, a phone was placed onstage. It would ring constantly until he wasn't able to put up with the piercing ring of the phone any longer, and he answered it. After answering the annoying phone, he was discouraged to find out that it was only his wife checking up on him.

Cynthia and Felicity, played by Stephanie Cooper and Julie Masgaj respectively, gave the appearance of being both sexy and controlling.

Each gave the threat of killing Simon Gascoyne, played by Rob Swenson, because he couldn't make up his mind about who he wanted and eventually cheated on both of them.

Gene Enriquez, who played the precariously funny Inspector Hound, initially appeared on stage for comic relief.

The character is predominantly confused throughout the play, because he expected the truth to pop out in front of him. He doesn't really know where to look for it instead.

With the assumption that someone was hiding information from him, he questioned everyone while stumbling upon a dead body, played by Kris Thayer. Hound insisted that the dead man is Cynthia's husband. However, none of the characters recognize the dead body, therefore it couldn't be her husband.

Throughout the scenes, the dead body is in obvious sight with a hand stretching outward as if he was trying to say, "I am over here, fool."

The stunning performance of Kris Thayer made this semester's production, even more enjoyable, because, with little or no movement, he was the star of the show.

Here's where the plot becomes confusing. Birdboot enters the play within the play as Simon, because this gives him the chance to get involved with Cynthia, while at the same time confusing Moon, his partner critic.

During the rest of the show, the audience sees how Birdboot's interaction with the cast aids in his demise.

Before Birdboot, played by Simon, is shot by a mysterious figure, he tries to explain to Moon that he has figured out what is going on. A pistol shot from offstage brings Moon into the play to take over the part of Inspector Hound.

As the plot thickens, it gets even more confusing. Moon's deranged explanation confuses the audience, because he is trying to solve the murder as a critic, and not as the character of the Inspector.

To make matters worse, Major Magnus, played by Nate Boudreau, is a crippled man residing at the manor. He makes several comments to Moon about how his theory is bunk.

The finale of the play involves Magnus revealing himself as the true Inspector Hound and Cynthia's long-lost husband, Albert.

Turning the tables against Moon, Magnus, the real Inspector Hound, reveals that Moon (really the character impersonating the Inspector) is the criminal.

As Moon tries to escape to his critic's chair, Magnus opens fire on him and knocks him off stage. Crawling back on stage, Moon cries to Magnus, "Puckridge, you cunning bastard."

The end of the play still leaves the audience in the "who-done-it" state of mind, because the characters never truly reveal the actual killer or the motives. If you saw the production, did you figure out "who done it?" If you didn't, you missed out.

Back to Guidon index