from Sheboygan Theatre Company whodunit not the usual fare
by Mary Ann Holley

     When the lights go down and the curtain rises at Friday's opening of the Sheboygan Theatre Company's production of "Dark Passages," the audience will be taken to the limits of suspense in a psychological thriller rarely found in Sheboygan's community theatre circles.
     Director Ralph Maffongelli gets pretty excited when he talks about the production, one that he played a part in developing . . .
     Maffongelli has difficulty aptly describing "Dark Passages," saying it's certainly a mystery that baffles the audience, but not some intellectual puzzle like Agatha Christie may have written.
     "It's more," Maffongelli said.  "It's suspenseful, it's exciting, it's realistic."
     While the theatre company is advertising the production as "not for the squeamish," Maffongelli also stresses that it's "not like a slasher movie, but a modern thriller that's more than a whodunit."
     "It's a modern, unnerving story told on stage with a realism of word and action similar to a Hollywood drama," Maffongelli said . . .   "It's a modern, unnerving story told on stage with a realism of word and action similar to a Hollywood drama," Maffongelli said . . .
    "It's the kind of play that will send the audience guessing during intermission," Maffongelli said.  "And it's a great script."
     Maffongelli said many of the play's performers couldn't put the script down.  They say it's a thriller with an authentic, fresh approach.

    

"It's a modern, unnerving story told on stage with a realism of word and action similar to a Hollywood drama"
-- Ralph Maffongelli