REVIEW
Undercover
Runs until Sunday, April 29
The Club at Citadel Theatre
9828 – 101A Ave.
Tickets: Call 780-425-1820 or online at www.citadeltheatre.com
Shouting at actors from the audience is usually considered bad manners. But on Wednesday night, I wanted to scream at the rookie investigator on stage, “You’re arresting the wrong person. You missed the clue about the package from India.”
As an avid reader of mysteries, it was at times agonizing to sit in The Club at Citadel Theatre watching a rookie cop fumble through clues and miss some of the ones planted right in his face.
But oh, was it fun, being part of Rebecca Northan and Bruce Horak’s Undercover, a two-hour plus improvised murder mystery held together by a fairly loose script.
It is billed as a “spontaneous theatre creation,” as six professional improv actors, double cast in various roles assist an audience volunteer placed under the spotlight as a rookie detective on an undercover op.
As with any good mystery, it starts with lightning, thunder and lights flickering on and off. It just happens the Edmonton Police Force is hiring a new detective and their top candidate is a rookie.
After about 10 minutes of basic training from Detective Sgt. Roberta Collins (Rebecca Northan), the rookie is wired and sent to a private art auction at a ritzy 86-acre estate in Sturgeon County. His mission is to spy on Lia Da Costa (Christy Bruce), a tough player in the Da Costa crime family.
Rookie's hosts are the once affluent Georgina Vinen (also Rebecca Northan), now steeped in debt, and husband Peter (Bruce Horak), a blind painter trapped in a dead marriage.
The other guests are Brooke Pounsbury (Terra Hazelton), a pot-smoking gossip; Graeme Nelson (Mark Meer), a city councillor planning a run for mayor; and Daniel Murphy, a quirky estate manager with an art history degree who mops up the Vinens' messes.
The odd mix gathers to bid on a painting one of Georgina’s friends found in her basement. Turns out it’s the stolen Rembrandt Storm on the Sea of Galilee.
Everyone starts babbling and suddenly there’s a blackout. When the lights return, the painting has disappeared and a dead body is lying onstage.
Undercover is littered with red herrings and false leads. Everyone has a motive for murder, but the outcome differs every night depending on the rookie investigator’s expertise and how he or she sifts through the information and innuendo relayed by other characters.
But no matter who gets nabbed for the murder, there’s a surprise twist at the end I did not see coming. Although it feels tacked on, it’s completely in keeping with the original story line.
And no, there is no spoiler alert. You’ll just have to see it for yourself. Although the action was slow to start, and occasionally the momentum bogged down, there were more than a few good zingers flying from the audience.
And if the evening drifts into dullsville, sipping a good glass of wine won't hurt.
