FARMINGTON — A good, old-fashioned whodunit — with lots of humor — takes the stage this weekend at the Farmington High School Performing Arts Center.
“Clue on Stage,” based on the 1985 movie “Clue” and inspired by the classic Hasbro board game of the same name, will be presented at 7 p.m. today, 7 p.m., Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students.
“Clue On Stage” is presented by the high school’s theater department and features a hilarious murder mystery with the iconic characters known by many who have grown up playing the popular board game.
Six guests are invited to a dinner party. The lights go out, the host ends up dead and all six characters become suspects for the murder. It’s then a race to find the killer.
The following students are playing the six houseguests in the play: Noelle Vann as Mrs. Peacock, Nate Black as Mr. Green, Carley Adams as Miss Scarlet, Aubree McWhorter as Ms. White, Jordan Walker as Col. Mustard and Ben Langston as Professor Plum.
Senior Scout Morrison takes on the part of the butler, Wadsworth.
Zac Perry, drama teacher, said he decided to pick “Clue” as the high school’s latest show to remind the community that Farmington students are able to provide “big shows.”
In the past, students have presented shows, such as “Footloose,” “Elf,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “A Christmas Carol” and “Grease.” Since Perry started at Farmington High School, the theater department has performed nine shows, not including a medley or mash-up that was put together during covid so that his seniors would be able to have some sort of on-stage performance.
Perry said the production is completely student-presented. His stagecraft class built the set, and other students are involved behind the scenes. This year he allowed cast members to order their own outfits, within a budget and with his approval, to give them more ownership of their characters.
Three of the students playing the “suspects” in the play said the cast members are good friends and that has made presenting the play a lot of fun for them.
Langston, a senior, said he has played the game Clue many times — “there’s not an American who hasn’t” — and said he wanted to play Professor Plum because purple is his favorite color.
Langston has been in several productions at Farmington, including “Elf,” “The Play That Goes Wrong” and “Footloose.” He started his freshman year in drama and has been interested in it since then.
Right now, he plans to pursue a career in theater or something similar. When he heads off to college, he plans to get his associate degree at Arkansas Tech University and then transfer to a college or university that is more relevant to liberal arts, music and theater.
Langston said he believes the audience will enjoy “Clue on Stage” because it is a subtle comedy as compared to a slapstick comedy.
“It’s a lot more word play comedy. There’s a lot more room to act in this one. The set is a lot of fun, and the costumes are a lot of fun. The big thing that I really like about our particular production is that everyone who is in it are in a friend group, and that brings a lot of on-stage chemistry.”
McWhorter, also a senior, wears a black costume because her character is described as “goth,” she said. “She supposedly killed her five ex-husbands. It’s never actually said that she did but everyone thinks that she did.”
McWhorter said she has been doing theater since she was in third grade. She said she likes playing Ms. White because that could have been her as a grown woman in this time period.
“I kinda consider her a man-eater,” McWhorter said, adding the character is a very aggressive older woman who questions authority.
Clue was her favorite game growing up, and Miss Scarlett her favorite in the game, McWhorter said. But for the script for the play, she said she definitely preferred Ms. White, though she didn’t try out for a specific part in the play.
One difference between the movie “Clue” and the play is the ending, McWhorter said. In the movie, viewers see three possible endings for solving the murder. In the play, all six characters are accusing each other at the end, so there are six possible endings, but it is never fully revealed.
“It leads up to this one total twist at the very end,” McWhorter said.
McWhorter would like to study film and is considering attending the University of Richmond in Virginia.
Adams, another senior, auditioned for “Clue” because everyone in the theater department is a “big family” and has been close friends for many years. The play has given them more time to be together since the cast and crew have rehearsed every day after school since September, she said.
Adams is playing Miss Scarlet, who she describes as a free thinker, doing her own thing and unique as a character.
Unlike Langston and McWhorter, Adams had not played the board game Clue until she auditioned for the play.
Adams has been accepted to the University of Arkansas. She wants to pursue music and music theater and said she probably will be a music teacher.
In addition to theater, Adams has been in choir since sixth grade and is a member of the high school honor choir. Singing is what got her into theater, she said, noting she’s been singing since she was a child and musicals are her favorite productions.
Lynn Kutter can be reached by email at lkutter@nwaonline.com .