TCAN Players Stage 'The Game's Afoot'

Can playing Sherlock Holmes on stage make a detective out of an actor when a house guest is killed?

The plot thickens in the murderously funny TCAN Players’ production of Ken Ludwig’s award-winning play, The Game’s Afoot (or Holmes for the Holidays), which is now on stage at The Center for Arts in Natick.

The production includes cast members Chris Erath and Diane Markowitz of Framingham.

It is December 1936 and Broadway star William Gillette,admired around the world for his role as Sherlock Holmes, has invited his fellow cast members to his Connecticut castle for a weekend of revelry. But when one of the guests is stabbed to death, festivities in this isolated houseof tricks and mirrors quickly turn dangerous. Then it’s up to Gillette himself,as he assumes the persona of his beloved Holmes, to track down the killer before the next victim appears. The danger and hilarity are non-stop in this glittering whodunit set during the Christmas holidays.

The Game’s Afoot won the 2012 Edgar Award for Best Play from The Mystery Writers of America for playwright Ken Ludwig.

The production is directed by Jim Porter and is sponsored by MutualOne Bank.

Performances are through Nov. 15 at 8 p.m., with a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $22/$20 formembers ($12 students/seniors), and are available through the box office (508.647.0097);or at www.natickarts.org.

Erath is a veteran of TCAN Players productions, making his debut in The Foreigner and most recently in the Players’ 2014 production of Lend Me a Tenor. A New Jersey native, he has been acting since childhood. Locally, he has performed with the Sudbury Savoyards, Theatre III and the Lexington Players. He is an economist by day and is amember of the TCAN Players board.

Diane Markowitz is appearing with the Players for the first time in this production. The Norwich, CT, native lived in various places in the Mid-Atlantic before returning to New England. She studied dental medicine at Tufts and was a practicing dentist for 13 years before changing careers, earning a doctorate in biological anthropology and taught the subject at Rowan University for 18 years.She is now enjoying retirement and the time to find her way back to the stage after a long absence.

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Murder’s afoot at a Connecticut estate, in the TCAN Players’ production of Ken Ludwig’s farcer/thriller, “The Game’s Afoot”, from November 6-15. From left in front row:William Gillette (Chris Erath); Simon Bright (Chris Butler), Aggie Wheeler(Maureen Renee Hughes), Martha Gillette (Diane Markowitz). Back row: Daria Chase (Angela Courtney Rossi), Inspector Goring (Tricia Akowicz), Felix Geisel (Steve Burgess), Madge Geisel (Kerri Tilney) Photo credit: Scott Bump