Tyrannical millionaire Edward Worthington’s relatives, business associates, and household staff all have reason to wish the man dead. Gathered on a stormy evening at the Worthington manor to celebrate Edward’s 50th birthday, everyone is revealed to have a motive to murder him, when all of a sudden the lights go out. What happens next, no one knows, as the plot, like gravy, thickens.
On November 2-4, Westview Theatre Company will present their fall show, “The Plot, Like Gravy, Thickens,” a comedic murder mystery directed by Dr. Summer Neilson Moshy.
For her last fall show, Meredith Dahl (12) will not only be performing the lead role, Walter, known as the playwright’s alter ego, but will also be featured as Edward Worthington and Lieutenant Mcmillan. In mastering the characters, Dahl said that there have been many challenges in switching between the three thus far.
“[The characters are] pretty different from each other and it’s challenging because they all have very different aspects to them,” Dahl said. “It’s really difficult to remember to revert back to those core physicalities or core movements that a certain character has,” she said. “Sometimes I’ll be Edward but I’ll catch myself in a feminine pose [when] I have to act like a guy.”
After determining the central themes of the play and its perspective, Moshy looked for an actor who could be versatile in their style as the script demanded.
“That’s why I picked an advanced actor,” she said. “[Dahl] is, in particular, skilled at improv, which is another skill that means you can turn on a dime and switch your focus and attention very quickly, which are skills you would need to play this part.”
Although getting into character for three separate roles is difficult, according to Dahl, she has adopted a method for differentiating
“With Walter, I [maintain] how I act because he is the most normal person out of all of them,” she said. “[Whereas] for Edward, I try to make my moves more masculine, and you can do that with sitting and walking, and even your hand gestures, so it [can contrast] with the detective [who] is a lot more sharp and feminine.”
Another way of getting into character for these roles is a method that actors call leading with certain parts of her body.
There’s this thing where [actors] try to [ask] with characters, where they lead from,” she said. “So basically when they walk, [we ask ourselves] what part of their body do you lead with? For Walter we were saying she leaves with her head. Whereas Edward leads with his chest because that’s what confident people do. But with the lieutenant it’s different. [She leads with her] feet because she’s like, moving around a lot.”
Another factor is that this show features audience participation in solving the case. After introducing the audience to the suspects, the detective, played by Dahl, turns on the house lights and invites the audience to interrogate the suspects. Dahl finds the aspect of audience involvement in the murder trial to be helpful in character development.
“[The actors] make up their back story and information, which is cool because it adds a lot of depth to the characters,” she said. “I feel like we’ve been doing more character work than on a normal show where you just have to follow the script, but this one, you have to have stuff ready for any question,” she said.
As for what she is doing for this show, Dahl said that it is nothing compared to what she has done in the past.
“This show is pushing the boundaries of what I’ve done before as a performer because, like, I’ve played a guy before, I’ve played a girl before, but never both in the same show,” she said. “I really want to create that distinction so that it’s more fun for the audience because I think it would be pretty boring if I acted the same for every character. So, I’m trying hard to switch it up,” she said.
Moshy said she expects the show’s wild card nature to make for an especially enthralling fall production.
“This show is a good time and it does not behave itself,” she said. “It jumps, changes, and moves and the music is fantastic.”
Tickets will be sold on Westview Theatre’s Instagram page, and in the plaza next week.
