Perry Burton, Dallas Ashby and Henry Skey in A Shot in the Dark

Credit: David Lowes

Smoking Gun

Langham takes A Shot in the Dark

Don’t expect to see Inspector Clouseau in the Victoria Theatre Guild’s A Shot in the Dark. While the closing show of Langham Court’s 80th season and the Pink Panther film share a name, this version is based on the popular Broadway play, written by Marcel Archard as L’Idiote and adapted by American writer Harry Kumitz. Set in early 1960s Paris, Shot opens on what appears to be an open-and-shut case: a chauffer for the wealthy Beaurevers banker family is found shot dead in the room of his lover, a beguiling parlour maid named Josefa (Dallas Ashby)—who is found naked at the scene of the crime, moments after it took place, with a gun in her hand. Despite the evidence, Josefa maintains her innocence—while trying to exercise her wiles on the greenhorn, by-the-book examining magistrate, Sevigne (Henry Skey) and his assistant, Morestan (Perry Burton). But, as usual, things aren’t as they seem, and this seemingly small case has some large implications.

My main beef with murder-mysteries is usually the script; often, nothing happens until the second act, so it feels like I’m twiddling my thumbs until the big revelation just before intermission. This is definitely true of A Shot in the Dark; all of the action takes place in the magistrate’s office (a very authentic design by Bill Adams) and most of it is between Sevigne and Josefa—Morestan mostly just takes notes and we don’t even meet the Beaurevers until the second act—meaning it really starts to drag after awhile. But things really shine in Act Two; not only do we get to see Mr. and Mrs. Beaurevers—played by Alf Small and Sylvia Rhodes—but the plot thickens and takes some interesting twists.

For the most part, we see some great performances here. Skey’s take on the keen young magistrate is solid and I wish we could have seen more of Rhodes and Small, both excellent in their roles. I wasn’t thrilled by Ashby’s Josefa; her attempts at seduction and faux-naivete seemed too overdone, but perhaps this will soften as the run goes on. Director Penelope Harwood doesn’t necessarily keep her performers moving all the time (after all, the play is basically a two-hour interrogation scene) but she does manage to really get things cracking, particularly in the second half.

While I wouldn’t call A Shot in the Dark a bulls-eye score, it does bring up some interesting themes of corruption, justice and power while managing to stay light—and there are some wonderful performances.

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A Shot in the Dark
To June 27
Langham Court Theatre, 805 Langham
Tickets $16-$18
250-384-2142