Review: The Game’s Afoot

Review: The Game’s Afoot | StageDoor Theatre | Conifer, CO | Curtain Up! | Eric Fitzgerald

Ken Ludwig’s The Game’s Afoot—winner of the 2012 Edgar Award for Best Play—has long been positioned as a fizzy blend of farce and murder‑mystery, built around Broadway actor William Gillette and his Sherlock‑Holmes‑tinged holiday gathering gone awry. StageDoor Theatre’s new production in Conifer, directed by Jill Manser, leans into the play’s festive intrigue, though the results here are more modest than sparkling, with a handful of strong performances emerging from a staging that doesn’t always find the briskness or snap the genre thrives on.

The play follows renowned actor William Gillette (Ken Zinn) as he hosts a small gathering of friends and colleagues at his Connecticut mansion for a holiday celebration. Among the guests are his mother, Martha Gillette (Laurie Atkinson), fellow performers Felix Geisel (Brian Dowling) and Madge Geisel (Jill Dalton), newlyweds Simon Bright (Rene Myer) and Aggie Wheeler (Brianna Angle), and the ever-provocative theatre critic Daria Chase (Staci York). When a mysterious attack turns their festive evening into a whodunit, Gillette relies on his Sherlockian instincts, with Inspector Gohring (Gretchen Samuels) arriving to unravel the growing secrets, shifting alliances, and increasingly theatrical revelations.

Under Jill Manser’s direction, the production is clearly shaped and thoughtfully orchestrated, but the pacing doesn’t always hold steady. A play like The Game’s Afoot depends on a certain snap, crackle, and pop—those crisp shifts of energy that keep farce buoyant and a mystery taut—and there are stretches here that don’t quite rise to that level. You can see the intention behind the staging, yet the momentum occasionally softens at moments when the play needs a sharper lift.

The ensemble acting proved uneven, though several performers brought welcome vitality to the stage. Ken Zinn anchors the evening with a steady, good‑humored turn as William Gillette, and Brian Dowling and Jill Dalton make an engaging, lightly chaotic pair as Felix and Madge Geisel. The real spark, however, comes from Gretchen Samuels, whose Inspector Goring is crisp, witty, and consistently alive to the play’s tonal shifts.

The production’s visual world is one of its strongest points, thanks to the exemplary scenic design by Cat Carris and Biz Schaugaard, whose work provides a striking, functional backdrop for the unfolding chaos. Jennifer Middleton’s costumes are especially noteworthy—smartly tailored, character-defining pieces that add a touch of polish and period flavor to the stage.

What ultimately shines through in The Game’s Afoot is the enduring cleverness of Ken Ludwig’s writing—his knack for folding farce, mystery, and theatrical in‑jokes into a single, buoyant package remains undeniable. Even when a production doesn’t fully capitalize on all the comic opportunities baked into the script, the architecture of the play itself offers plenty of delights. For audiences willing to make the scenic drive to Conifer, The Game’s Afoot delivers an evening of clever twists and playful suspense before it closes on March 1.

For information and tickets: https://www.stagedoortheatre.org/