The new cast and crew of Michael Hollinger’s Red Herring are hard at work, rehearsing in the Black Box Theatre.
The comedy with a six-person cast takes place in the1950s during the campaign of Dwight Eisenhower, the creation of the H-bomb and the middle of the Red Scare. Intertwined in the comedy are a murder mystery, three love stories and a nuclear espionage.
The plot follows Maggie Pelletier as she works hard to solve the murder of a man found dead in a Boston harbor.
“It’s a comedy,” Says Nelson Sheeley, who directs the six-person cast. “The murder is purely coincidental, in that respect it’s a classic murder mystery – try to figure out who did it before we tell you – but it’s all for fun.”
Sheeley graduated from Yale with a master’s in fine arts, and has used his talents to enhance the gifted cast that take their roles on stage. “I usually tell the cast where to move and get out of the way,” Sheeley said with a laugh, “or nudge them back on – that’s not the case with this crew.”
To maintain a realistic setting, playwright Michael Hollinger made sure to incorporate details of the era including a televised broadcast of the Eisenhower campaign and references to I Love Lucy. “There are all manners of reference to the 50s in the play, from shows to language. Clothing and hair will also be based upon the fashions of the time,” Sheeley said.
Jessica Zula plays the part of Maggie Pelletier, Boston detective.
“What is challenging about playing Maggie is she has this masculine, tough exterior, but she still has some girlier qualities so it takes practice to balance the two,” she said.
Zula previously played in A Flea in Her Ear and Pride and Prejudice, both Sinclair productions.
“The accents take some time. There are so many characters with so many different accents that it can become tough not letting their accent slip into another character,” Sheeley said.
Zula admitted that she has to keep herself from using the accents of other characters while on stage. Various accents – Russian, Boston with a hint of country – were projected throughout the dark Black Box theatre as characters from varying parts of the world took center stage. To maintain realistic speech of her own, Zula goes through numerous Boston words before each rehearsal to pick up the accent.
“I try to challenge myself,” Zula said about practicing the role of a 1950s woman. “I take some inspiration from Law and Order, and give it personal spin. The phrase ‘Let me rephrase the question’ is said repeatedly, and I try to emphasize that because it usually sets up for an important moment with another character on stage – it’s a way of drawing focus.”
Kira Miller, who previously starred in Bare, reprises another motherly role in Red Herring as Mrs. McCarthy. “I love this performance,” she said. “The accents, movements and mannerisms – it’s fun, I love character work.”
Miller previously acted in Pride and Prejudice, A Flea in Her Ear and Bare.
“This play is highly comedic unlike my previous plays,” she said. Visual displays in the forms of boxes, crates and tables were moved about amid an array of scene changes, as a setting was slowly being built to replicate bedrooms, bridal shops and harbors. Each piece brings a sense of humor to the already comedic production.
Miller also takes on the role of two other characters, one being Mrs. Kravitz. “It can be tough – you have to differentiate between your roles,” Miller said. “Of course the audience knows it’s you in each role so you have to make each character distinct so they know who’s who when you’re on stage.”
The performance is from Fridays and Saturdays February 6-14 at 8 p.m. and a Thursday performance with spaghetti dinner on Feb. 12 at 7:00 p.m. in Blair Hall Theater.
Tickets are $18 adults and $15 for students/seniors. No children under 6 admitted to this performance.
Tickets are available at: www.sinclair.edu/tickets.
Jamez Duty
Reporter