Clues of dispute: local community theater arrives in Belfield

“Clue: On Stage” will take place at 7pm on Friday October 15th and Saturday October 16th and will conclude with a matinee performance at 2pm on Sunday October 17th, all at the Belfield Theater. Admission is $ 15 for the general public and $ 10 for students and seniors.

Dickinson’s director Jackie Hope described the play as exciting, colorful, and a bit naughty.

“It’s adapted from the movie ‘Clue’ which is, of course, based on the board game. And it’s almost a random set of tweets. It’s a mysterious adventure with a lot of action… a lot of really quick dialogue, ”Hope said. “It makes sense when we find out who did it at the end, but it leaves audiences guessing until the final reveal of the last scene.”

Cat Wranglers Productions, which is a Dickinson-area, non-profit community theater company, is the group behind the production.

“Cat Wranglers was incorporated about four years ago, but we’ve been a community theater troupe for at least 10 years,” Hope said. “Some of our old regulars have been doing this all their lives. Cat Wranglers is therefore a relatively new entity. It was a non-profit organization that we set up so that we could contract with the Belfield Theater. “

Hope said some of their past productions have included “Frankenstein”, “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Sherlock Holmes”. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Cat Wranglers Productions were unable to make a production in 2020. The group was scheduled to do a Neil Simon play, which was postponed three times before it was ultimately canceled. Hope said this year that she wanted to do something light coming out of the pandemic.

“This is the first theatrical production we have been able to do in over a year and we wanted something joyful. We wanted something carefree. We didn’t want people to have to think about it, we wanted them to have a good time, ”she said. “It’s kind of a cult movie, on the order of ‘Rocky Horror,’ but not as big as a cult classic. We wanted something easy to watch and fun to watch.

Hope is currently completing a theater degree at Dickinson State University. She said most of her actors have studied acting or earned theater degrees from DSU.

“It just helps me do what I’m doing. I have been playing and producing for many, many years. And it helps, especially when people have questions. Now we can answer it, ”she said.

Pat Barnhart, also of Dickinson, plays the butler, also known as Wadsworth. Barnhart’s wife Margaret, who retired from DSU last year as an English teacher, plays Ms Peacock. Barnhart is also retired after working for more than 30 years in a feed factory.

“The first show I did was at Dickinson State College, as it was called then, around 1972,” Barnhart said, adding that he had been performing ever since. “It’s fun working with these guys. We’ve been working together, some of us, for quite a long time.