Forum Theatre brings screwball comedy ‘Clue’ from board game to Wichita stage

Staging a comedic version of the board game Clue was an easy deduction for Forum Theatre.

“We just decided it was time to do something that was a fun romp, and that’s what this is,” artistic director Kathryn Page Hauptman said.

“Clue On Stage” – not to be confused with “Clue! The Musical,” which is on the schedules for many theaters across the country – is based on the screenplay for the 1985 movie version of “Clue,” starring Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn and Christopher Lloyd. While the 36-year-old movie garnered attention at the time for giving its audience one of three different endings, Hauptman said this version will have three solutions, one after the other with a comedic rewind approach.

The stage version has gathered the usual suspects: Mrs. White (Briley Meek), Miss Scarlett (Chelsey Ehresman), Mrs. Peacock (Ann Marie Rogers), Col. Mustard (Ted Woodward), Mr. Green (Ted Dvorak) and Prof. Plum (Andrew Walker), as well as Beth Wise as the cook. Craig Benton, a guest artist from the New Theatre in Kansas City, plays Wadsworth the butler, and Simeon Rawls plays Mr. Boddy, as well as performing the background music.

Set designer Ben Juhnke, Hauptman said, has created an intricate two-story set where projections show the interior and exterior to each room the suspects visit.

“There’s lots of trick doors, trick panels,” Hauptman said. “It’s going to be very, very clever. … It’s a really fun approach to the piece.”

Hauptman said audiences should enjoy “Clue On Stage” as much as she and the cast have.

“It’s a very, very clever approach to it,” she said. “It’s one of those screwball comedies that people love.”

‘Clue on Stage’

When: Sept. 23 to Oct. 10; 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays

Where: Wilke Center, First United Methodist Church, 330 N. Broadway

Tickets: $18 opening night; $25 Fridays-Saturdays, $23 Thursdays and Sundays, from forumtheatre.org or 618-0444