Ken Ludwig’s clever murder mystery, The Game’s Afoot, gets a delightful production from the Rockville Little Theatre.
Directed by Laura W. Andruski, the play follows a theater troupe gathering on Christmas Eve to solve one murder, as another happens offstage and another in their midst. Andruski directs a cast of eight led by Chas Roades as William Gillette.
The Game’s Afoot was inspired by the real-life Gillette, born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1853. In London, he met Arthur Conan Doyle, who was seeking a stage adaptation of his Sherlock Holmes stories. Ultimately, Gillette crafted a play, Sherlock Holmes, and made himself its star, performing Holmes about 1,300 times, ending his run in 1932. With his earnings, Gillette built an eccentric 24-room stone castle in Connecticut, which is the setting for The Game’s Afoot (and is now the center of a state park). Kudos to Jess Asjes, set designer for the play, who manages to re-create the creepy grandeur of this castle at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre.
The Game’s Afoot opens in 1936 with Sherlock Holmes as a play-in-progress — with Roades as Gillette playing Holmes. Things turn badly fast for our actors when a shot rings out from the audience. The show closes, and the action moves to the Connecticut mansion.
Our cast of characters, including the warring, snarky couple, Martha and Felix Geisel (Nancy Blum and Noah Steurer), the dastardly Simon Bright (Jonathan Kilgore), and the angelic ingenue Aggie (Gabriella Ganoe), gather for a holiday celebration only to be met by the batty Martha Gillette (Nancy Blum) and her son, the ringleader and Sherlock Holmes-wannabe. They are soon met by Gillette’s “big” news that one of the most hated reporters on Broadway — Daria Chase (Cassiane Mavromatis) — will be joining them to research a feature on the troupe for Vanity Fair. (As an aside, the actor’s sharp response to Daria Chase’s appearance seems quaintly dated today — as legacy media have, in recent years, decimated their arts coverage.)
While the Rockville Music Theatre’s actors were more muted than they needed to be in the slow first act — this is a farce, and it calls for broader comedic moments — the game changes when Daria Chase enters and lights up the gathering with her fabulously over-the-top accusations and big presence. She is played to the hilt by Mavromatis, and the rest of the cast energetically responds in kind.
The witty comedy at the heart of this whodunit then shines through the ensemble with repartee from Shakespeare and Broadway — and another murder. The laughs get even louder as the charmingly clueless Inspector (Wyckham Avery) is called in to investigate the murder du jour. “The word ‘madhouse’ doesn’t begin to describe it,” sums up Martha Gillette. By the end, it’s a madhouse — and madcap — and a good time for a murder to be solved, and for all.
Shout-out to the costume designers, Jennifer Morrissey and Becky Bucci, for capturing the style and elegance of Broadway stars in the Connecticut countryside — that pink organza for our ingenue and her husband’s loud plaid suit said it all — and to Stephen D. Welsh for his perfect wigs.
Ultimately, who killed who — and why — is entertaining in The Game’s Afoot as in any cozy mystery, and the cast makes it good old-fashioned fun to watch it all unfold.
Running Time: Two hours and 15 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission.
The Game’s Afoot plays through October 4, 2026, presented by the Rockville Musical Theatre, performing at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, Rockville Civic Center Park, 603 Edmonston Drive, Rockville, MD. Purchase tickets ($24; $22 for students and seniors) online, by calling the Box Office (240-314-8690), or by email (boxoffice@rockvillemd.gov).
