By ALLISON POND
My favorite part of Agatha Christie novels is always the end, when a brilliant detective figures out who did it and explains how all the random details fit together.
After watching “The Color of Innocence,” I felt like someone ripped the last 50 pages out of my book.
Lehi Horseshoe Theatre’s Halloween play “The Color of Innocence” turned out to be a good excuse to showcase some amazing special effects, but left me feeling confused and a little annoyed. I kept waiting for a clincher to tie together all of the random things going on and solve the mystery, but even at the end it all seemed vague and unconnected.
The story takes place in the English countryside at the estate of a professional painter named Edward, played by Chris Clements. His long lost niece, Elizabeth, played by Wendy Dillon, arrives from a seven year trip to Italy, and finds herself surrounded by rumors about her past, especially her husband and child who she says were killed in an accident.
Elizabeth quickly falls in love with her uncle’s naive American apprentice, Mark, played by David Hurlburt. Mark is ignorant of the rumors but begins to guess that there is a dark secret in Elizabeth’s past when he starts hearing a child cry, finding strange objects, and feeling cold hands in the night.
It could have been great play if the playwrights and the cast had been as concerned with realism as the crew in charge of special effects. Even from ten feet away, I couldn’t figure out how that music box was jumping around and I really felt like people were bleeding. The lighting and music were also spooky, especially with the wind blowing the drapes around and flinging the doors open.
The acting was another story. Hurlburt played Mark well, going back and forth at the drop of a red rose from an innocent boy to a possessed madman. He had an advantage, though, as the only actor not forcing a terrible English accent.
As a general rule, most of the actors’ movements and lines seemed completely unmotivated and overdone.
But then again, it’s hard to act motivated when the motivation isn’t in the script. Halfway through the first act, one of Mark’s friends suddenly throws Elizabeth to the ground in a passionate embrace. Why? We have no idea. When he appears the next time, he is portrayed as a nice normal guy, and nothing more is said about the incident. Figure that one out.
I also never fully grasped the whole innocence metaphor. The question was posed several times, “What is the color of innocence?” But I never quite caught the answer, let alone a reason why innocence needs a color.
In the spirit of the Halloween season, it’s got some effects and was anything but boring. So if you like spooky stuff, check it out, but if you want a story line and some good acting, try for something else.
“The Color of Innocence” plays October 25, 28, and 29 at 7:30. For ticket information, call 766-0912.
