Whodunit set to hit stage Friday

It's a classic tale of murder, mystery and isolation ... and it's a perfect whodunit for Las Vegas residents.

Signature Productions presents the play "Ten Little Indians AKA: and Then There Were None" planned for 8 p.m. Friday through Oct. 9 (dark Sundays and and Tuesdays) with three matinees slated for 2 p.m. Sept. 25, Oct. 2 and Oct. 9.

The play will be performed at the Summerlin Library and Performing Arts Center, 1651 Inner Circle Drive.

The script is taken from the Agatha Christie book of the same name. A group of amoral people are invited to an isolated island mansion. Upon arriving, a recorded phonograph message accuses them of various crimes.

After one dies from poison, another from an overdose of sleeping pills, a third from being struck and then falling into a fire and a fourth is stabbed to death -- all following the fates of the ten little Indians in the nursery rhyme -- the remaining guests realize the killer is among those present.

Will they unveil the killer before another of their number is killed?

Two of the cast members are drawing on their acting experience in college to play the roles of Phillip Lombard and Vera Claythorne. They are a real life couple, Ken and Katie Craig.

The two met when they were both part of an improvisation troupe called "The Garrens" about 10 years ago at Brigham Young University.

They performed skits similar to television's "Whose Line Is It Anyway?," first appearing on campus then traveling with the troupe to various entertainment venues.

Right from the start, there was a mutual attraction.

One of the parts for a new skit called "Social Hugs" required a male and a female actor to kiss. Ken Craig was cast first.

"I noticed Katie Craig was really quick to volunteer," he recalled.

She also was first to volunteer for another skit he was in, called "Falling In Love."

But Ken Craig was involved with someone at the time, and Katie Craig was seeing a guy, so it wasn't until about a year later they started dating. They were married a couple years after their initial meeting.

After college, the couple kept up their acting skills, doing one play together in community theatre before life interfered and jobs took precedence. They started a family and now have four children.

Ken Craig used his creative side to enter advertising. He is now a senior account manager with Ballard Communications. Katie Craig holds court over the household and acts as a doula for women seeking birthing alternatives.

But both commented to each other from time to time how they miss that creative energy, that "buzz," from being on stage.

In "Ten Little Indians," the couple gets to reignite the spark that first started in their improvisation days. Ken Craig's character is somewhat of a scoundrel. Katie Craig's character, Vera, a personal assistant, is a little bit of a flirt.

In rehearsals, Katie Craig said the director has had to encourage them to stop gazing at each other and look out at the audience more. She said it's worth juggling the kids with baby-sitters to act once more beside her husband.

Ticket prices range from $12 to $17. For more information call 878-7529 or visit www.signatureproductions .net


<<--[back]