‘An Old-Fashioned Family Murder,’ starring Sally Struthers, approaches familiar genre in a new way

T. CHARLES ERICKSON

From left, Sally Struthers, Michael Evan Williams, Allison Scagliotti and Tony Carlin co-star in “An Old-Fashioned Family Murder,” written by the Tony-winning Joe DiPietro.

Sally Struthers’ formidable comedic chops — including her trademark quavering voice — are put to good use in “An Old-Fashioned Family Murder.” George Street Playhouse is currently presenting this campy mystery, which was written by Tony winner Joe DiPietro (“Memphis,” “The Toxic Avenger,” “Nice Work If You Can Get It”), at The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, in its New Jersey premiere.

The play does have something to say about how women were underestimated in its time period (the 1940s). But DiPietro is mainly concerned with building a thorny mystery, and packing his lines with laughs. A good time is practically guaranteed.

Larry Raben directs, and Robert Kovach designed the appropriately opulent but also somewhat gloomy set, described in the program as “The grand room of a grand mansion, somewhere in the rainy Northwest.”

T. CHARLES ERICKSON

James Taylor Odom with Allison Scagliotti, left, and Caitlin Kinnunen in “An Old-Fashioned Family Murder.”

Arthur Whittington (Tony Carlin) — a successful mystery novelist who is also, we are led to believe, a bit of a hack, and is struggling to find an idea for his next bestseller — has been invited to this house by its extremely rich owner, the unseen Colonel. The Colonel’s two daughters are there, too: Clarice (Allison Scagliotti), who comes off like a film noir femme fatale, and Dotty (Caitlin Kinnunen), who is an ardent fan of Whittington’s novels.

Also in attendance is Jasper (Michael Evans Williams), Clarice’s fiancé, who stands to increase his wealth significantly from the marriage. He and Clarice met at the Colonel’s country club, where he was “second assistant manager of guest aquatic services” (i.e., the pool boy).

Jasper is somewhat dim-witted (when someone uses the word “clairvoyant,” he says: “Wait. Claire who?”) and is often mocked by the supercilious Whittington.

“Old sport, if one opened a dictionary and looked up ‘common man,’ there’d be a picture of you,” Whittington tells him.

“Why thank you,” Jasper responds. “Wait, no, was that an insult?”

Showing her face a little later than the others — in a clever surprise entrance — is the play’s fifth character, Shirley (Struthers), Dotty’s friend from their murder-mystery book club. She is a bit kooky, but also sharp, and able to put Whittington in his place — sweetly and gently, but also firmly.

The sixth character, Shirley’s son Paul (James Taylor Odom), arrives at the house last, to pick his mother up. But — you guessed it! — there has been a murder, and it just so happens, Paul is an aspiring detective. Even though Shirley, like everyone else in the house, is one of the suspects, she thinks this is a great opportunity for him to prove he is a great detective — just like her deceased husband, who had a legendary career in this field.

T. CHARLES ERICKSON

Sally Struthers in “An Old-Fashioned Family Murder.”

Paul describes himself as “a junior detective.” “All he has to do is solve his first murder and they’ll promote him to a real one!” Shirley says.

Lots of familiar features of the murder-mystery genre are here. The Colonel appears to have changed his will recently; but did he really? It is a dark and stormy night, with thunder often crashing, ominously, outside. It is such a terrible storm, in fact, that no one else could possibly access the remote house, so one of the house guests must have done the murderous deed that Paul is investigating. And the phones are not working, because of the storm, so he can’t call the police.

“No one can leave this room without my permission,” he announces.

Nothing about the setup comes as a surprise. This is a play, after all, with “old-fashioned” in its title. But as in any good mystery, there are some wild twists along the way. And Struthers’ character does end up adding a delightful new element to the genre; she is not a standard-issue murder-mystery character, at all.

“An Old-Fashioned Family Murder” is, simply, a great vehicle for her, and any fan of hers should not miss it.

The George Street Playhouse will present “An Old-Fashioned Family Murder” at The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center through Nov. 2. Visit georgestreetplayhouse.org.

_________________________________________