Review: ‘Cluedunnit’ at Out Front finishes the season with laughs and dirty jokes

Thank the comedy gods that Out Front Theatre did not receive the rights to Clue because Cluedunnit, its drag parody of the iconic film, is the funniest thing to happen to the board game since the flames on the side of Madeline Kahn’s face. Running through May 16, this laugh-a-minute farce weds the campy nature of the 1985 flick with Out Front’s trademark bawdy irreverence.

A world premiere written by Out Front Artistic Director Paul Conroy alongside Jack Caron, Cluedunnit takes the framework of the classic Tim Curry film and uses it as an opportunity to take a group of talented, hilarious actors and set them loose armed with zany characters and dirty jokes galore.

The show is set in the Clue Room, a drag club located in “Whatever City This Play is Being Performed In.” The proprietor of the club is Miss Boddy-oddy-oddy, an iconic drag queen with a reputation for being both fierce and two-faced. We are quickly introduced to her entourage, a group of vivacious and utterly absurd queens who have come together to celebrate Miss Boddy-oddy-oddy’s birthday. However, we learn that many of them are harboring long-simmering grudges against the woman of the hour, which leads to accusations flying about when Miss Boddy-oddy-oddy is found dead.

Conroy and Caron mostly use the structure of the film as a guideline, allowing the actors to riff off of each other in ways that take the story down numerous tangents. Where the film is brisk and efficient in introducing the characters, arriving at the murder of Mr. Boddy before the 30-minute mark, Cluedunnit takes over an hour, taking the time to let each queen make an impression on the audience before the needle drops.

The result is that, while the film is a tight 90 minutes, Cluedunnit is well over two hours. But only rarely does that run time feel excessive, as it is filled with nonstop laughter and high jinks. Much of that humor comes from how absurdly drawn the characters are and how the actors are all flawlessly cast.

Dillion Everett enters first as Miss Scarlet Fever, a crude and foul-mouthed answer to the film’s femme fatale Miss Scarlet. Then comes Aavyn Lee, a sneaky scene-stealer as Professor Plume, who starts out as the most unassuming of the queens and becomes one of the funniest by play’s end. Next is Joe Arnotti’s Lady Pisscocks, a skewering of Mrs. Peacock, who manages to become the comic relief in a show that is nothing but comic relief. TJ Ruth brings an elegant yet raunchy charm to Mrs. White Privilege, while Darnell “Cookie” Xavier brings Tina Turner flair as Honey Dijon Mustard. The last queen to arrive is Andi Stanesic as Verde La Glam, the most overtly sinister of the queens with a trashy Transylvanian accent.

Joining them are Brian Jordan as Daddy, one of the club’s managers, and Jack Caron himself as Pierre, the sassy French servant to Miss Boddy-oddy-oddy. Caron also plays a number of ancillary roles, to the point where blow-up dolls are used in the inevitable moments when more than one of his characters have to be on stage at the same time.

Absolutely nothing is meant to be taken seriously here, and the show is all the better for it. It should not be taken seriously as an adaptation either, because while there are some amusing nods to the film, Cluedunnit is mostly just borrowing the premise. 

There are a couple of complaints to be made. While the play mostly manages to keep the audience laughing, it does occasionally strain under its lengthy run time. It should also be noted that Mrs. White Privilege and Honey Dijon Mustard, the only two Black characters onstage, feel a bit underserved compared to the other queens. Their gimmicks are less defined, and they are not afforded the same amount of stage time.

A far less sincere complaint is that Out Front chose this play to close out its season when the spooky tone would have made it the perfect Halloween offering, especially with Ricky Greenwell’s outlandish costumes and David Reingold’s often haunted-house-esque lighting.

Still, one can hardly think of a more appropriate show to round out the theater’s 10th anniversary season. If a vulgar, over-the-top skewering of a beloved classic in which a character gets speared from end to front with a dildo and a Boy Scout knocks on the door selling party drugs (both the same actor) is not on brand for Out Front, then I don’t know what is.

When & Where

Cluedunnit is at Out Front Theatre through May 16. Tickets, $35.
999 Brady Ave. NW.

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Luke Evans is an Atlanta-based writer, critic and dramaturg. He covers theater for ArtsATL and Broadway World Atlanta and has worked with theaters such as the Alliance, Actor’s Express, Out Front Theatre and Woodstock Arts. He’s a graduate of Oglethorpe University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree, and the University of Houston, where he earned his master’s.