Acadia’s ‘Appointment’ proves fun for audience

For the best description of the Acadia Repertory Theatre production of “Appointment with Death,” which opened earlier this week at the Masonic Hall in Somesville, I defer to a stranger who sat next to me on opening night.

Throughout the evening, she laughed. Between the three acts, she held her hands high to clap. Once, she even leaned over and did the inevitable during an Agatha Christie whodunit: She made a prediction about the plot.

All this adds up to the final, telling comment made as she left the theater: “That was so much fun.”

Indeed, that’s the recurring effect of the annual and always popular murder mystery staged at Acadia Rep. And this production falls squarely into that tradition.

“Appointment with Death” has the exotic setting of Jerusalem, rendered imaginatively by Ken Stack’s clothy, scorchingly lit set, which is collaboratively underscored by the actual summer heat of August. In this arid vacation spot, we encounter the tyrannical matriarch Mrs. Boynton (Alison Cox) on holiday with her three grown but entirely powerless children. She tells them where to be, with whom to speak and how to feel in any given situation. Clearly, each child has a motive for wanting the mother dead, and we can’t help but root for the event because the ailing woman’s sadistic pettiness is about as maternal as a Popsicle.

But could they be so heartless as to off the old lady? And why is the mysterious Alderman Higgs (John Hart) always hanging around? And is the indefatigable Lady Westholme (Catherine LeClair) quite so upstanding? And what about the American cowboy Jefferson Cope (Alan Gallant)? He is, after all, desperately in love with Mrs. Boynton’s son’s wife.

You’ll get the answers to all these questions, and you’ll find yourself asking others about the production, directed by longtime Acadia Rep affiliate Wayne Loui. There’s a wide range of ability in this cast of 14 actors, and the stage can get awfully crowded. Sometimes there are lulls, and often there are laughs.

But overall, the woman next to me was right: At its best, “Appointment with Death” is fun. At its worst, it’s fumbly. During those less laudable moments, you can either try to figure out the ragtag accents coming your way or you can marvel once again at costume designer Tim Tucker and his particularly elegant expertise for creating a creamy wardrobe of desert fashion. The footwear alone is an oasis in this otherwise clunky yet nevertheless amusing production.

Acadia Repertory Theatre will present “Appointment with Death” by Agatha Christie, 8:15 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday through Aug. 26 and 2 p.m. Aug. 27 at the Masonic Hall in Somesville. For information, call 244-7260.