Mystery solved- Hononegah Performing Arts’ Clue was a hit

Old time music played in the background as audiences prepared to solve a murder mystery full of twists and turns. Clue, Hononegah’s fall play, ran Nov. 7, 8 and 9, 2025.

Directed by Mr. Christian Frieden and Assistant Director Mrs. Carolyn Frieden, the cast and crew brought an electric energy to the Performing Arts Center stage.

Based on the screenplay by Jonathon Lynn and written by Sandy Rustin, Clue is a fast paced, over the top comedy with dramatic moments sprinkled into the show.

This show was also based on the Paramount Pictures motion picture and the Hasbro Board game.

The action took place at the Boddy Manor. Inside the manor, several rooms featured different colored doors and bonus trap doors.

On a dark and stormy night, guests were greeted by Wadsworth the Butler, with an outstanding portrayal by Rian Nosbich.

The guests included Colonel Mustard (Cooper Wellen), Mrs. White (Toria Owens), Mrs. Peacock (Evee Layng), Mr. Green (Carter Szczensy), Professor Plum (Malakhi Hilton), and Miss Scarlet (Jordan Helgerson).

Serving the guests dinner were Yvette the French Maid (Amelia Holmstrom) and Wadsworth.

All the actors played their roles convincingly. Some played multiple roles: the cook, singing telegram girl and a backup cop (Isabell Murath), Mr. Boddy, The Chief of Police and a newscaster (Kendall Spearman), The Motorist, an unexpected cop, a backup cop and McCarthy (Leo Wolf.)

Though the play is mainly a comedy, the script contains important lessons, as the story is set in the 1950’s, on the backdrop of McCarthyism, a time of mass hysteria, false accusations, and blacklisting in the United States, when hundreds of lives and careers were destroyed.

The characters in Clue are quick to blame one another for the mysterious murders that take place at Boddy Manor, mirroring the real life accusations sweeping America at that time.

The guests often ran in circles reacting to their circumstances. Cast members effectively backed up to rewind music as possible murder scenarios were played out.

As the guests discover they all hold government influence, conversation at the dinner table turns lively before they are joined by Mr. Boddy, who has been blackmailing everyone.

Wadsworth has called the police to arrest Boddy, but Boddy threatens to expose everyone's secrets if they turn him in.

Boddy then presents the six guests with weapons, each one in a black box. Uncovered in the boxes were a candlestick, rope, lead pipe, wrench, revolver and a dagger.

Before turning out the lights, someone suggests that someone kill Wadsworth to protect their secrets.

Instead, after a gunshot rings out, Boddy is found on the floor, seemingly dead.
As the guests investigate Boddy's death, Wadsworth explains how he became indentured to Boddy and summoned the guests. He is hoping to force a confession from the group and turn one of them over to the police.

The group suspects the cook, but they find she was fatally stabbed with the dagger. Next, someone discovers Boddy is still alive but then kills him with the candlestick.

Wadsworth locks the weapons in a cupboard, but before he can throw away the key, a stranded motorist arrives. Wadsworth locks him in the lounge before throwing a key out the front door.
The group pairs up to search the manor. However, someone burns the blackmail evidence, unlocks the cupboard, and kills the motorist with the wrench.

Discovering a secret passage, Mustard and Scarlet find themselves locked in the lounge with the motorist's corpse.
When they scream for help, Yvette the maid shoots the door open with the revolver. The group deduces that Wadsworth threw out the wrong key and the murderer pickpocketed the cupboard key from him.

A cop investigating the motorist's abandoned car arrives to use the phone. The mansion receives a call from FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, which Wadsworth takes.

After successfully distracting the cop and concealing the bodies, the group resumes their search until someone turns off the electricity. In the darkness, the maid, the cop, and an arriving singing telegram girl are murdered.

Wadsworth restores the power and gathers the group, having deduced what happened. Recreating the night's events with a brief interruption from an evangelist, he explains how the five random victims were Boddy's informants who are each connected to one of the guests.

Wadsworth says he is an undercover FBI agent before accidentally firing the last bullet in the revolver at a chandelier, which narrowly misses Mustard as it falls.

What actually happened: Apart from Green, everyone committed one murder. Peacock killed the cook, Plum killed Boddy, Mustard killed the motorist, Scarlet killed the cop, White killed Yvette, and Wadsworth killed the singing telegram girl.

Holding the guests at gunpoint, Wadsworth reveals he is not a butler but the real Boddy. Plum kills the real butler, and announces his intent to continue blackmailing them all. Green draws his own revolver and kills Boddy.

Green then reveals he is an undercover FBI agent sent to investigate Boddy. He lets in law enforcement and the evangelist, who is revealed to be the chief of police, to arrest everyone.

Carefully placed sound, special effects, and lighting added greatly to the quality of the production.

Theater classes and a build crew joined Mr. Bond in constructing two turntables 15 feet across, each divided into three equilateral sections. Each turntable was hand operated by several crew members. The unique set design meant smooth scene changes.

The entire cast and crew of Clue utilized the talents of over 50 individuals, from the stage managers, to audio, props and costumes, dramaturgs and beyond, earning Hononegah's Performing Arts team a standing ovation.