New West Theatre has a whole bunch of fun solving the Munsch mysteries with this year’s Munsch show.
The common theme is the mystery of the missing Munsch books at the “World Famous Munsch museum.”
While it is pretty easy to figure out who the thief is, it is a kid’s show after all, it is a fun filled romp of physical comedy and a plethora of different characters as two young detectives played by University of Lethbridge graduates Willie Banfield and Kelly Malcolm who help security guard Sam, played by Camille Pavlenko solve the mystery of who stole a bunch of Munsch books.
They solve the crime by acting out the stories with the help of Sam. After they finish each story with an exuberantly cheerful “The End!” they are provided with a puzzle piece and riddle they have to solve by acting out the next story.
The actors do so with manic energy, sound effects, different accents and an array of quirky characters.
Camille Pavlenko tries on a variety of different characters and accents while Malcolm and Banfield gleefully roll and tumble all over the stage and scurry around cleaning up rat’s nest of props and costumes left on stage after each story.
Malcolm shines as the young would be pilot in “Angela’s Airplane and as the lisping straight woman in “Wait and See” as she makes a variety of crazy birthday wishes come true from lots of snow in the summer to rain to melt it ,lots of money to three babies, which Banfield ends up juggling.
Malcolm is also adorable as another baby in “Murmel, Murmel, Murmel” which Banfield , dressed in a skirt must pull around the stage as he looks for a suitable parent.
And Pavlenko is hilarious throughout especially as the lonely security guard, trying to play it innocent.
There is a lot of audience participation as audience is called upon to make various sound effects.
A crew of young volunteers chase the characters around the colourful set full of boxes during one of the stories. Director Geneviéve Paré seems to let her cast run wild on stage, playing with props and costumes, but each move is carefully choreographed especially the clean up after each story.
The Great Munsch Mystery runs Dec. 22-Jan. 3 at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. each day and Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. in the Sterndale Bennett Theatre.
It will also be touring southern Alberta schools in January.
