According to press notes, when a famous playwright dies unexpectedly, leaving behind his highly anticipated but unfinished play, writers Don and Mara are hired to complete it in time for an imminent Broadway opening. With the clock ticking and armed with only the first 25 pages of the script, the couple try to get inside the author’s head. Instead, they find themselves sucked into the world he has created, cruising around the Caribbean aboard a luxury yacht with members of the cursed Bloodworth family. After one of their shipmates is murdered, Don and Mara realize their only chance of getting home is to write an ending before they meet their own.
“This play is so fresh and so fun,” said Emily N. Wells, Human Race artistic director. “When you’re programming a season, you always want to kind of balance the things that are going to be new and challenging with the things that are new and feel familiar. What I think Marcia and Doug have done so well is call out all of the fun tropes from the murder mystery and comedy mystery genres and plant them throughout. (The audience) will laugh because the play touches so many familiar moments.”
Cincinnati actor and director Jason Podplesky helms the production. Podplesky, who staged an excellent production of “The Mousetrap” at Wright State University in September, memorably portrayed three roles in last season’s outstanding Human Race production of “Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help.”
“I’m a big fan of new work,” said Podplesky. “I feel it’s where you can have the biggest impact as a director. I’ve spent a lot of my career working on original plays, as both a director and actor, because I love the being the first to bring it from the page to the stage. With new works, there are no preconceived notions about what it should or shouldn’t be because of the way it had been done in the past. I never feel like I’m ‘reinventing the wheel’ as I sometimes do when directing a play that’s been done a million times already. This play is exciting because it’s a new riff on a classic genre. It uses a lot of the classic murder mystery plot devices – a group of strangers stuck in an isolated location being murdered one by one – but (it’s) mixed up in a very fun and original way. It’s a funhouse ride of sorts.”
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
The all-local, six-member cast consists of: Annie Pesch as Mara/Meredith (”Family Shots”); Josh Aaron McCabe as Don/Silas (”Everything That’s Beautiful”); Andrew Ian Adams as Dean/Trevor (”Airness”); Barry Mullholand as Bartholemew (Cincinnati) Shakespeare Company); Christine Brunner as Devorah/Violet (”Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help”); and Adelyn Rae Helms as Tabitha (TheatreLab Dayton’s “Something Rotten!”).
“Like all good mysteries, the characters are distinct and unusual,” Podplesky added. “Everyone is a suspect. What’s cool about this show, is that because of its theatricality, every actor plays multiple characters. I’ve not seen that in a murder mystery before reading this play. What I’ve learned in working on it so far is that it plays even funnier than it reads. I’ve been delighted by the humor we’ve found to mix with the suspense. The combination works very well together.”
“Each member of the cast brings their own unique skill set,” echoed Wells. “It’s the best of all possible worlds and everyone is playing to their strengths.”
Joining Podplesky on the “Deadline” production team are: Ray Zupp, scenic design; John Rensel, lighting design; Janet G. Powell, costume design; Brando Triantafillou, sound design; k. Jenny Jones, fight director; Sarah Gomes, props; Mark Tynan, production stage manager; and Joseph Adams, production assistant.
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
Wells also notes that for the remainder of the 2022-2023 season, the Human Race launches two new ticket initiatives: two sections of $20 seats available at any time through the box office, and ten $10 rush seats available 90 minutes before any performance.
“It’s an invitation to laugh with us, be moved by a story, and share that experience with your neighbor,” she said.
The production was originally scheduled Oct. 27-Nov. 13 but has been postponed one week due to cast illness.
HOW TO GO
What: “Deadline”
Where: Loft Theatre of the Human Race Theatre Company, 126 N. Main St., Dayton
When: Nov. 3-20; Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7 p.m.
Cost: $10-$53
Tickets: Call 937-228-3630 or visit daytonlive.org. For more information, visit humanracetheatre.org.
FYI: Audiences are reminded of the following dates: Pay What You CAN performance: Nov. 2 at 8 p.m.; Inside Track: Nov. 3 at 8 p.m. (pre-show discussion at 7:15 p.m.); Sawbuck Sunday: Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.; and While We’re On the Subject: Nov. 13 at 2 p.m.
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