Jackson Thespians present "The Butler Did It"

Of all the styles of humor, and there are many, one of the easiest to pull off is stereotype humor. While easy, if done in a tasteful manner, it can also be very entertaining.

The Jackson Thespians' high school production team knows this, which is what makes their stereotype-driven farce "The Butler Did It" one of the most entertaining high school productions to hit the stage in the past 10 months.

Tim Kelly's script is packed full of playful, hyperbolic charicatures throughout, each one a long-running gag.

The story takes place at Ravenswood Manor on Turkey Island outside of San Francisco. The manor is the typical setting of hundreds of murder mysteries -- an isolated place where the characters, invited by a rich eccentric with an obsession for mystery novels (Elysia Rouggly's Miss Maple), are locked in and isolated by a storm.

Maple shares the manor with her uptight personal assistant Rita Eyelesbarrow (Audrey Stanfield) and her backwoods ex-con maid Haversham (Vanessa Underwood).

Maple invites a group of mystery authors to a weekend house party, each one with his or her famous character, each character a different detective novel stereotype. By Maple's request, the writers must stay in character the entire weekend, taking on their detective personas.

Steven Nolkemper plays Father White, the "psychological" detective; Aaron McElrath plays the Bogey doppelganger Chandler Marlowe; Clint Pogue plays Oriental sleuth and clueless idiot Louie Fan; Bobby King and Whitney Tankersley play Manhattan uptown socialite couple Rick and Laura Carlyle; Kyle McNallen is the Sherlock Holmes-school Brit Peter Flimsey; and Rachael Rushin is girl superagent (think Lara Croft) Charity Haze.

The grossly exaggerated and one-dimensional characters leave the actors plenty of room to play around, which they do. The audience is engaged, laughing without even realizing it.

Most memorable is Pogue's Fan, a dolt playing on Oriental stereotypes like bad syntax and a knack for philosophical, often nonsensical, sayings. An example: "If brute force were all, tiger would not fear scorpion."

That may not sound funny in print, but the delivery comes at just the right time for a good belly laugh. Given his lines, it's frankly amazing that Pogue doesn't crack up while delivering them.

Also hilarious are the Carlyles' wild outburst of loud, forced laughter and the enthusiasm they use whenever they mention their "contemporary Manhattan apartment."

The good job on costumes and make-up help push the characters to the extreme, such as Maple's make-up mask and Marlowe's trenchcoat. Each can be easily identified as a distinct personality.

The sound and lighting come together nicely to simulate the effect of a thunderstorm while the set is designed well (the stereotypical mystery manor) and richly appointed thanks in part to help from a local furniture store.

"The Butler Did It" runs at 7 p.m., Oct. 21 and 22.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182