Eagan High School Winter Play Includes Murder, Satire

annual winter play debuts on Thursday. And this year, the performance is a play ... within in a play.

The high school cast will present "The Real Inspector Hound". The comedy, written by Tom Stoppard in the mid-1960s, satirizes the Agatha Christie-esque mysteries that were popular at the time.

As the plot unfolds, the story shifts back and forth between the conversation of two theater critics who are watching a murder mystery play and the actions of the characters in the play they are watching. The barrier between the audience and the actors gradually dissolves, and the critics eventually become involved in the murder mystery of the play that they were assigned to review.

“We have a lot of fun finding points where hopefully we’ll get laughs,” said David Newhall, an EHS senior who plays Moon, one of the two theater critics.

Although the play is a comedy, it is also thought provoking. By focusing on the neurosis and obsessions of the two theater critics, Stoppard balances moments of humor with social criticism.

"Inspector Hound" presented its cast with several unique challenges. Students worked to master the language of the script and properly convey its symbolic meanings. Actors portraying the cast of the “play within a play” were faced with perfecting the unusual art of acting badly.

“It has to be big and over the top,” said Aly Johnson, a junior at EHS, who plays Cynthia, a widow entangled in the murder mystery, who seeks solace in the arms of a new lover.

Johnson commented that, as a cast member in Inspector Hound, she was tasked with creating a caricature, rather than creating a character.

Johnson is one of eight students acting in the show. The cast has been rehearsing approximately 15 hours per week since mid-January.

“It’s a great cast,” said Jerome Melchior, a literature, writing and theater teacher at EHS, and the play’s director.

The Real Inspector Hound will open at 7:30 on Mar. 1 at the EHS auditorium. Performances will also be held on Mar. 2 and 3. Tickets cost $7 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. For tickets, call 651-683-6964.