'The Game's Afoot or Holmes for the Holidays" opens November 29 at ACT.

Amelia Community Theatre

November 26, 2018 10:00 a.m.

Tickets are $22 for adults and $10 for students through college, available at www.AmeliaCommunityTheatre.org and 904-261-6749.

Ken Ludwig's The Game's Afoot or Holmes for the Holidays, opens November 29 on the main stage at Amelia Community Theatre.

The Game's Afoot or Holmes for the Holidays, presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.,  is rated PG-13 for mild language and some adult situations.  It was the winner of the 2012 Edgar Award for Best Play from the Mystery Writers of America.      The show is sponsored by dtw, Research, Inc. Photo courtesy of Linda McClane.

This comic whodunit is set in 1936 at the Connecticut mansion of actor William Gillette. Gillette, a real person, was famous for portraying Sherlock Holmes on the stage in New York and London for over 32 years, appearing as the famous consulting detective in nearly 1300 performances from 1899 - 1932.

Through his writing and staging of Doyle's stories, Gillette introduced three elements that are now part of our visual image of Holmes - the deerstalker cap, the long cloak, and the curved pipe. He also wrote the phrase, "Oh, this is elementary, my dear fellow," which later was edited by a film actor to "Elementary, my dear Watson."

In Ludwig's fictionalized story, it's Christmas Eve, and Gillette has invited his cast to spend the holidays with him and his mother, even though just two weeks earlier he was wounded onstage by a gunshot as he took his bows. Gillette has surprises in store for his guests, but those plans backfire when there is actual foul play. A cryptic note referencing a passage from the work of Shakespeare, a barking dog, and a disappearing dagger all are clues that the game is afoot! The houseguests become suspects, and Gillette can't help slipping into his famous persona, Sherlock Holmes, as he matches wits with a local police inspector.

Directed by Linda McClane, the cast include Mike Roberts as William Gillette and Jayne Jeney as his mother Martha. The houseguests are played by Olivia Ballard, Bruce Gruber, Lisa Howard-Welch, Brianna Noel, and Chris Twiggs, with Gina Roberts as the inspector.

"This is a funny, larger than life play, and very theatrical, because the characters are all in the world of theatre, and each one has a secret," says director McClane. "Elegant clothes and dramatic entrances and exits are as much a part of their real life, as their professional life, and Shakespearean quotes are easily sprinkled into their conversations." The real William Gillette loved inventions and gadgets, and the set of The Game's Afoot has its own surprise, which adds a layer of farce when events go awry after a séance.

Performances are 8 p.m. on November 29, 30, December 1, 6-8, 13-15 and at 2 p.m. on December 9 at 207 Cedar Street. Tickets are $22 for adults and $10 for students through college, available at www.AmeliaCommunityTheatre.org and 904-261-6749. Box office hours are 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and ninety minutes before curtain on show dates. The five-play season ticket is also still available for $100.

Amelia Community Theatre will be collecting canned goods and other non-perishables for the Barnabas food pantry during the run of this play, and audience guests are invited to drop off food on show dates or during box office hours.

The Game's Afoot or Holmes for the Holidays, presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc., is rated PG-13 for mild language and some adult situations. It was the winner of the 2012 Edgar Award for Best Play from the Mystery Writers of America. The show is sponsored by dtw, Research, Inc.