Stage Review - Suspect (Bremerton Community Theatre)
Stage Review - Suspect
Presented By: Bremerton Community Theatre - Bremerton, WA
Show Run: June 06 - June 29, 2025
Date Reviewed: Saturday, June 14, 2025
Run Time: 2 Hours, 15 Minutes (including a 15 minute intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
The typical whodunit is structured pretty consistently with all of the others, take what we’ve come to know from whom we are safe to consider the master of the genre on stage, Agatha Christie. Typically, there’s a group of people set together in a particular location, a train, a boat, an English estate….and, also typically, there’s a murder (or murders), a crime for which any of the guests will have a motive, the story keenly keeping the audience guessing through all of its twists and turns until the true killer is revealed at the end, usually before they turn whatever weapon they have on everyone else still alive. Leave it up to Kristi Ann Jacobson, though, to present a whodunit that flips the script. Kristi Ann, along with assistants Ruthann Saunders and Wallace Ross, is the director for Suspect, currently running on stage at Bremerton Community Theatre through June 29. Suspect isn’t your average murder mystery. Sure, the 1937 play from Edward Percy and Reginald Dunham has a murder, but it’s not too long after the play begins that the audience knows who the culprit is. In fact, the suspense here is not in who perpetrated the crime, but rather if the murderer will be found out and what the ultimate price will be for committing the crime. It’s a solid story, perhaps not as engaging as some other murder mysteries, but then again it’s more academic, more about the process of putting the clues together over the two (plus) hours of the show rather than having that time spent by keeping the audience guessing. Suspect is a different kind of murder mystery, but it’s not without commonalities between it and others in the family, but regardless of what it has in common with other mysteries, or what is different, there’s no argument that the result is a play with a solid design and a group of characters that bring their own drama-laden relationships to the story in a production that has the high level of quality that we’ve become accustomed to with Kristi Ann and her directorial team.
Suspect takes place in, as the program points out the “garden lounge at Mrs. Smith’s house at Polcurn, Cornwall”. Gary Fetterplace manages the scenic design for the show and, along with artists Kristi Ann, Ruthann, and MJ Jordan, he’s done a nice job with this lounge area, it’s nicely appointed, it has the standard murder mystery components (fireplace, bar, piano, library, etc), but it’s also trimmed with vines for a country feel while also using large windows and a beautifully crafted mural to give the cottage a seaside view. Add wicker furniture and it adds up to a casual, seaside home in rural England. The mural, for me, is the best part about the set, though. Designed and painted by Josi Twigt and Lani Anderson, It adds depth while giving the entire scene context in its depiction the misty and rocky shore of Cornwall. It’s so good, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Captain Ross Poldark riding above the waves. Contributing to the overall feel of the piece, and its craggy shoreline setting, are Dale Borer and his lighting design, and Kristi Ann, doing triple duty with sound.
The Mrs. Smith of the “garden lounge at Mrs. Smith’s house”, is a character played by Becky Eastgard. Mrs. Smith is mother to Robert Smith (Nathan O’Guin), and lives at the house with her housekeeper, the Scottish Goudie Macintyre, portrayed by MJ Jordan. MJ is a treat to watch, her accent is thick and very Scottish (credit also to dialect coach Ali Lovie Zollo), she’s got a wonderful stage presence, and she plays Goudie as a no-nonsense, tell them what you think (or if you don’t tell them, shoot a look at them), manager of the house. Becky’s Mrs. Smith is a private person and seems to enjoy the solitary life. She also very much doesn’t want her son Robert to be married, which he is planning to do with Janet Rendle (Abby Brown). And as insistent as Robert’s mother is about the marriage not taking place, Janet is even more insistent that it does. I like the way Abby plays this antagonist, when she feels that Becky’s character is especially ardent, Abby cuddles up closer to Nathan as if to thumb her nose at her prospective mother-in-law. And, while the game of cat and mouse between Becky and Abby increases in its ferocity as the story progresses, so does the angst that Nathan shows as Robert. One of Nathan’s greatest assets in his acting, something I’ve seen from him time and again, is in the humor he’s able to deliver in a very subtle way. He gets the idea that a laugh can be generated through a pause, or the tone in which he delivers a line, and his ability to engage in that kind of comedic turn makes him just about perfect for this role. Most of the conversation in the play, especially early on, is between Becky and Barbara Miller’s Dr. Rendle, Janet’s mother. Dr. Rendle is a calm and reasonable presence and, unlike Mrs. Smith, is fully in support of her daughter’s marriage to Robert. Otherwise, though, there’s a mutual respect despite the tension. It’s in Act 2, though, when the tension rises among the entire group.
Everything changes when Sir Hugo and Lady Const arrive. He, a former reporter and current newspaper magnate, and she, his wife and an example of poise and control, disrupt the scene when he recognizes someone from his past, someone who committed a murder during his time in Scotland, someone who was tried, but not convicted, the case came back as “not proven”. Played by Matthew Bradbury and Ronni Wolfe, the couple hone in on the suspect, and work to recreate and build the case against the culprit. While Lady Const is looked at as the steadying influence in the relationship, she’s a bit odd, mystical almost. Her sixth sense, sort of an ESP, helps to point her husband in the right direction, while he takes on the role of the de facto Poirot of the group. Matthew and Ronni are extremely good, and in this largely academic exercise, in building a case around whom the audience knows is the murderer, he is excellent. The second act, in fact, is mostly Matthew working with some of the others in the house to help come to a factual conclusion about whom the person is that he recognized and the details about their crime. It’s a dialogue heavy piece and the entire cast manages the lines just about as good as can be. It’s tricky to deliver the sheer number of lines without sounding dull or unemotional, and there are moments when the dialogue turns that direction in the production, both those moments are few and short lived. That said, the play could be a bit droll if you’re looking the type of suspense that comes with other murder mysteries, but that fact doesn’t take away from Suspect’s overall level of quality, it just requires a little more effort.
Two other callouts go to Kenadi, who plays Rev. Combermere, and costume designer Ashley Hooper. Kenadi brings a lightness to the piece, the reverend is respectable figure, and they’re responsible for providing a good deal of comic relief. And the work that Ashley has done with the costuming in Suspect is very good, the men are dapper in their tuxedos and the female characters very nice in outfits that are varied but contextual for their personalities.
Suspect is a good character-driven murder mystery, and in the hands of Kristi Ann Jacobson and her directorial team, as well as the group that she’s cast for the Bremerton Community Theatre production, this play, which is also dialogue-heavy, is not just an intriguing whodunit, it’s also a study in how far a mother is willing to go in order to keep control of her children, the power of rumors and speculation, and how they impact our behavior, and the heaviness of a past burden that a person carries with them. It’s a play that refuses to wrap itself in a pretty bow, but instead is a thinker, something that asks the audience to study the evidence at hand and draw their own conclusions. It may not be for everyone, those that enjoy edge of your seat suspense may not appreciate the academic nature of this play, but for those that do, and for those who are just drawn to good theatre, Suspect is definitely your cup of tea.
The Bremerton Community Theatre production of Suspect runs on stage through June 29 in Bremerton. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://www.bctshows.com/.
Photo credit: Kathy Berg, Andy Jordan
