Show:  The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Director: Mark Bellamy

Date saw the show:  November 25, 2007
Place saw the show:  Vertigo Theatre, Calgary
Principal Leads: Lindsey Dawn, Onalea Gilbertson, Natascha Girgis, Lynley Hall, Elinor Holt, Tim Koetting, David Lereaney, David Leyshon, Andrew Macdonald-Smith

Musical Director:  Stephen Woodjetts 

4 ½ stars 

Reviewed by: Emily Axelson 

The Mystery of Edwin Drood, written back in the 1800s was Charles Dickens’ last novel. Ironically, before he could finish the story and reveal the secret to the mystery, he died. But how did it end? Who murdered Edwin Drood? We’ll never know, but in this delightful play YOU decide.  

Edwin Drood, (Onelea Gilbertson) is the nephew of a mad vocal teacher John Jasper (Zachary Stevenson) and the fiancé to the beautiful Rosa Bud (Lindsey Dawn). Rosa is a student of John and John is hopelessly in love with her. As he is slowly driving himself insane with jealousy, Rosa does not love him, and he hates Edwin for it. To relieve his stress, John goes to see Princess Puffer (Elinor Holt) to purchase opium. During all the madness, two immigrants show up. Helena Landless (Natascha Girgis) and Neville Landless (David Leyshon). Their stepfather had just died, and they had moved to England to get away. However, there is something suspicious about them both, particularly Neville. He claims that hadn’t his stepfather died, he would have killed him. Reverend Crisparkle (Tim Koetting) used to be in love with Rosa Bud’s mother…before she died. He seems innocent enough, but could he be after Rosa as well? Meanwhile, the inexplicable Jasper is still acting suspicious and guilty as ever. For no particular reason, he is searching the crypt in the cemetery with permission of the homeless alcoholic Durdles (David Lereaney.)  

After a night of Edwin having many arguments with nearly every character…the following morning, he is missing. The mayor immediately orders his assistant Bazzard (Andrew MacDonald-Smith) to gather all the facts and clues. Bazzard does as told, but longs for a larger role in the production. He states that in all the plays he’s been in, he constantly has the small role. A detective comes to investigate…but who is this detective? He seems vaguely familiar and suspicious. Could it be one of the characters in disguise to find out what really happened first hand? As luck would have it, this is where Charles Dickens’ story ended. So we must now decide; who did murderer Edwin Drood, if anyone. Is he truly dead? Is the detective REALLY a detective or an imposter? Who is guilty? The mad uncle Jasper driven insane by jealousy, the innocent and beautiful fiancée Rosa Bud, the unraveled yet mysterious Princess Puffer? Or could it be the unexplainable immigrants Helena and Neville, the kind-hearted Reverend still grieving over the loss of Rosa’s mother, the unmotivated Durdles with no apparent reason to commit such an act (to our knowledge), or the desperate Bazzard longing for the spotlight? We will never know if Charles Dickens intended for this to be all the knowledge we need or if there was still more to be unraveled before the shocking ending. We will never know, but we can imagine. Which ending will it be tonight? 

The Mystery of Edwin Drood was very intriguing to watch, making you laugh, dance along to the music, suspect, and think. The cast was loaded with talent and they were all great actors as well as singers. I thought the narrator really added something to the production, informing us of all the clues, the probability of each character, and helping you to get inside the mind of Charles Dickens and discover who truly murdered Edwin Drood and who didn’t. I have never read the novel, but after seeing this extremely interesting play it will no doubt be one of the next books I read. I have never been to a play where the audience chooses the ending, but I loved it. You can mix it up to make absolutely no sense, or choose the most logical possibility, it’s your choice!

The Mystery Of Edwin Drood was their highest budget play, and it was totally worth it. The props and costumes REALLY added the ‘oldin’ days’ feel to it and helped you get into the story that much more. I HIGHLY recommend this play to almost anyone… I can’t think of anyone who this would not please.