The Cord
February 2, 2011

In review: Fr!nge

Sarah Murphy

Murder by Midnight

Directed by: Luke Dotto

Written by: Jeff Goode

Produced by: Lauren Vastano-Beltrano

In this ten-minute murder mystery play written by Jeff Goode and produced by Lauren Vastano-Beltrano, Dick Piston (Luke Dotto) is enlisted to solve a crime reported to him by a woman in nothing but a towel (Keegan Chambers).

The cast creatively toyed with typical crime-drama and film noir characteristics. The self-reflexivity of the genre was amusing, the recurring "novelty egg timer" joke received laughs and the speedy dialogue kept viewers paying attention. Though entertaining, certain parts of the play seemed a little too overacted and the production as a whole could have benefited from the performances being reined in a bit at times. The amusing plot twist at the end was an unexpected, but funny, way to bring the one-act to a close.