An Ill-Mannered Manor: Mystery at the Thousand Islands Playhouse
It is a dark and stormy night outside Roger Ackerton’s family home… and, as is custom on nights as dark and stormy as this one, Mr. Ackerton is dead before dawn. The Thousand Islands Playhouse closes out its summer lineup with a murder mystery spoof: Murder at Ackerton Manor. An original script by director Steven Gallagher, Murder at Ackerton Manor is a deliciously tasteless Agatha Christie parody play. Following Mr. Ackerton’s homicide, the arrival of Detective Pierre Pierrot spurs all five guests staying in the house to provide an alibi as they tussle for absolvement.
Aaron Reid Ryder is a starburst of comedic talent onstage. His stage presence is fine tuned, achieving a delicate balance of deliberately drawn attention. A balance of energy and restraint, he expertly harnesses various leagues of humour. As the uninterested butler Curtis, Ryder takes up as little space as possible: he is quick, sharp witted, and out of sight. Yet in his scenes as the bawdy Madame Marplestein he is as wide and wild as any drag performance ever has been. Ryder remains keenly aware of the moment: he never hogs the stage, but he very well owns it.
Kristopher Bowman’s performance as the double-casted Detective-slash-Deceased is pristine. A solid leading man as Pierrot and our opening act as Ackerton, he never falters in intention or presence. As he was left to die alone onstage with no apparent murderer save Vivaldi’s ‘Summer,’ Bowman is a reliable catalyst to set the zany tone. The trusty captain of a tight ship, Bowman steers the jubilant play back on track with an ease that opposes his characters’ apparent rigidity.
Ashley Botting, the third actor in our collection of seven characters, is wildly expressive. Portraying the smut-obsessed hopeful novelist and lady of the house, Mrs Ariadne Ackerton, she is rambunctious and coy. In her stage time as Professor Basil Lemon, she is the spoofiest of all spoofs. Between the two roles, she is able to exercise a wide array of her talents. Many jokes even rely on the play’s double casting– Murder at Ackerton Manor proves its playwriting as the sort that not only depends on but thrives off its status as a three hander.
They say all good things come in threes— if I had to describe the play itself in three words, I’d have to choose camp, camp, and more camp. Steven Gallagher’s script feeds on irony, leering from a parody of any murder mystery to a parody of itself while pursuing every hall for a new humorous twist. The fourth wall is one of straw, and each actor has their turn as the Big Bad Wolf. Jokes are played out until they are sweaty, tired, and in need of a cigarette. It is a testament to the actors’ proficiency that the repetitions are not awkwardly long. Despite the lengthy exploitation of certain gags, the show is anything but dull– its creative variety of jokes is amazing. Every moment is performed with such conviction that even drawn out ideas are still entertaining and fun.
Set at the scene of the crime, the entire play takes place in Roger Ackerton’s personal study– a high ceilinged room gracefully designed by Brandon Kleiman. The room’s grandioseness does nothing to shrink our actors— these three theatrics rise above and beyond the high walls of Ackerton Manor.
The lighting and sound design is integral to joke set up and delivery. The rapt attention of stage manager Melanie St-Jaques combined with designer’s choices makes for comprehensive technical storytelling and full environmental immersion. Murder at Ackerton Manor is a cue heavy show, and the punctual enactment of each one approached perfection.
The assistant stage manager, whom I assumed to be a crew but is instead the one-woman powerhouse that is Caitlin Mears, deserves a round of applause for the quick work she makes of costume changes, prop hand-offs, and general backstage handling. So much of this show depends on gags from beyond the door, and Mears solidifies herself as the honorary fourth performer in this play– she could be credited as puppeteer for all her “fake hand” responsibilities.
Writer-director Steven Gallagher has unleashed a barrel of energy upon the Thousand Islands Playhouse. Murder at Ackerton Manor is a fearless script which traverses the lines of genre like a child with a coloured pen– intentionally incongruent and heedless to imagined limits. Full to bursting with wit, silliness, and irony, this mystery spoof is a gut-punch and a belly-laugh.
‘Murder at Ackerton Manor’ runs at the Thousand Island Playhouse until September 13, 2026. You can find tickets and other information here.
