By ANGELA DRAKE
The taunting title of Orem High School’s production of “Catch Me if You Can” foreshadows the audience’s entanglement in the play’s maze of surprising subplots.
“Few plays have as many twists and turns as this one does,” said Jeremy Minagro, who played Father Kelleher.
This seven-member cast of high school students, directed by Neal Barth, ignites a compelling intensity needed to sustain the riveting plot.
This “evening away from the mundane,” as Barth refers to the play, will be performed through Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Jerry Elison Auditorium at Orem High School.
The play consists of one scene, a summer house in the Catskill Mountains of New York. The setting is deceptively serene, for the action confined to the house could rival a James Bond movie in intensity.
The play opens with Daniel Corban, played by Cameron Hopkin, who frantically implores Inspector Levine, played by Adam Lawson, to find his wife Elizabeth.
Daniel and Elizabeth had been married for two weeks and were on their honeymoon. Corban informs the inspector that Elizabeth left in his car three days ago after he broke her Sinatra album.
Father Kelleher, just assigned to this parish, visits Corban. He heard Corban’s story and shows him a medallion he had from Elizabeth as a donation. He promises to bring her to Corban if there were no questions asked. Corban agrees, but Father Kelleher returns with a woman who was not his wife.
Everyone but Corban believes she is Elizabeth, played by Shauna Hatfield, and he becomes more hysterical as his objections are perceived as mental illness.
The plot twists as Father Kelleher is actually “Buzzy,” Elizabeth’s sidekick. Yet Corban’s attempts to reveal the truth to the inspector come across as paranoia.
The play revolves around Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde characters who prove appearances are deceiving. One person is stabbed. Two people are shot. There’s a poison attempt. Two men are kissed. And that’s just a glimpse.
The play resembles an Agatha Christie novel plot, since the truth is not easy to discern, and the outcome is shocking.
“It’s kind of like ‘Mission Impossible,'” Minagro said. “If you see it twice, you can catch 100,000 more things.”
