Three strong performances and an attractive set do not make up for a weak play weighed down with exposition.

Leslie Sands’ 1983 “psychological mystery” Cat’s Cradle is slow moving mainly because the lengthy back story is the key to the small amount of action that occurs on stage.

Set in the residents’ lounge of an English country inn, it is the eve of local resident Sarah Fulton’s wedding. A shadow hangs over the happy occasion when Detective Inspector Jack Frost appears, determined to clear up his last unsolved case before he retires: the kidnapping/murder of Sarah’s baby brother 12 years earlier. The second part of the mystery is why the family and friends of the victim are so hostile to Frost and so determined to preserve the secrets behind the crime.

At first, Cat’s Cradle (the title is a reference to a child’s game of creating changing three-dimensional thread patterns) seems carefully constructed to explain each character’s behaviour. But there are some inconsistencies, particularly in the bride’s reactions. It is also hard to accept that almost everyone can be bought off.

Fortunately, this does not include DI Frost, played with conviction by Douglas Cuff in the Kanata Theatre production, directed by Susan Monaghan.

As Peggy Fletcher, the co-owner of the inn, Caro Coltman offers a well-nuanced and entirely believable characterization. As Sir Charles Cresswell, Martin Weeden is also convincing in presenting a well-defined portrait of the local lord of the manor.

The other major positive aspects of the production are Rom Frigon’s evocative set design and Marilyn Valiquette’s attractive costumes.

In general, however, this production of Cat’s Cradle — in large part because of the wordiness of the backward-looking script — is so grindingly slow that it is hard to care whether or not the mystery is ever solved.

 

Cat’s Cradle continues at Kanata Theatre to February 13.

 

Cat’s Cradle

By Leslie Sands

Kanata Theatre

Director: Susan Monaghan

Set: Rom Frigon

Sound: Justin Ladelpha

Lighting: Vanessa Johnson

Costumes: Marilyn Valiquette

 

Cast:

Sam Fletcher………………………………James Renaud

Miss Merton……………………………….Haila Osadca

Peggy Fletcher……………………………..Caro Coltman

Sarah Fulton……………………………….Alexandra Dunlop

Pamela Fulton……………………………..Katherine Ross

Inspector Frost…………………………….Douglas Cuff

Bob Marriott……………………………….Marko Pilic

Sir Charles Cresswell………………………Martin Weeden