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A murder has taken place on a dark and stormy night.
A dozen different characters are caught up in the crime as the “whodunnit” question hangs in the air.
What’s unique about these dozen characters in the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre’s production of Murder for Two, which officially opens on April 3 at the Tom Hendry Warehouse Theatre, is that eleven of them are confined to one actor (who, it’s worth pointing out, also has to play the piano).
“Coming up with the blocking for someone switching characters throughout was definitely a tricky challenge, but a fun one!” admits director Chase Winnicky with a laugh.
That someone is Winnipeg theatre veteran Melanie Whyte, who portrays an array of potential suspects alongside Duncan Cox, who acts as an anchor of sorts in the show as detective Marcus Moscowitz trying to solve the murder of author Arthur Whitney.
In some ways, Murder for Two’s draw is the highwire act to see if the demands on the actors can be executed while also drawing the audience into the story. Winnicky is quick to shine the light on the creative team, including movement director Rebecca Jones and voice and dialects coach Tom Soares, as being essential players in ensuring that the story doesn’t get lost in the acting acrobatics.
“Each character has their own kind of voice, and some of them have accents,” explained Winnicky in an interview on Morning Light. “Some of them, it’s just the style of talking, some of it is physicality.” For his part as director, Winnicky had to find the motivations for each of the characters to snap into physicalities and dialects in the moment.
“You just have to focus on the picture as a whole first, and then, once it’s all kind of in place, you can go back and fine-tune in detail as you go.”
Murder for Two is the latest in a series of productions across Winnipeg theatre companies that require actors to portray multiple characters. Winnicky has observed this trend both as a director and an actor.
“From a business aspect, it’s a lot cheaper,” he admits, “But I think it’s also thrilling as an audience to see. It’s a challenge for both the actor, because to portray multiple people is a challenge... and for the audience, too, it’s fun to see the push and pull and be like, ‘Who’s coming next?’.”
The economic advantage of one actor playing multiple characters also makes it easier for productions to travel around to different locales. Ahead of their run at the Tom Hendry Warehouse Theatre, Murder for Two played in twenty different communities across Manitoba. Winnicky notes that this experience brought the cast closer together while also making them extremely adept at executing the show.
“The actors have really found on the road, they would have their quick pre-show where they just [said], ‘OK, this happens here, this happens here. We’ll block that there, this goes here.’ So, they know the show inside and out.”
Audiences can get familiar with Murder for Two from April 3 to April 19 at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre’s Tom Hendry Warehouse Theatre. Tickets and more information can be found at the RMTC’s website.
