The problem with 'Tis the Season to Do Folly isn't just that we don't care about its characters; the problem is, we don't even believe in these characters. Yes, it's entertaining when magician John Calvert performs several tricks for the audience; but who is he, really, and why does he seem to have so little interior life? And yes, it's mysterious to find lodge guests Elizabeth Cronin and Bonnie Jackendorf suddenly dead by wine poisoning — but who were they alive, besides candidates for the death count?

Author Aubrey Hampton clearly understands the mechanics of the murder mystery, but in his effort to live up to such classics as Ten Little Indians, he's neglected to make his characters real and their murders an emotional, and not just intellectual, problem. So 'Tis the Season to Do Folly, currently playing at the Gorilla Theatre, is ultimately boring (and at 2 hours 40 minutes, much too long) in spite of some nice moments. We're simply can't be concerned about the fates of cardboard cutouts.

What Hampton aims to do in 'Tis the Season is entertain not only with a whodunit but also with an evening of magic tricks performed by illusionist Calvert and (oddly) other guests at the King Maple Lodge. The tricks are mildly entertaining — I imagine that children especially would find them interesting — though occasionally one can't help but see just who's pulling the strings.

Once the magic show is out of the way — about halfway through Act One — the mayhem begins. Two guests appear to have been poisoned with cyanide, and Christmas tree ornaments with their names on them have inexplicably disappeared. The surviving lodgers are understandably alarmed, and waitress Siobhan O'Flaherty takes charge, for some reason, of the investigation. The murderer, she says, must be one of the persons we've already met.

Is it the manager, Mr. Hooks, cross-country ski champion Ralph Herring, blond bimbo Martha Wells or lily-livered, stuffed-puppy owner Dr. Albert Blichtenstein? Is it magician Calvert, loudmouth Bob Wells or waitress O'Flaherty herself? More guests are dispatched, a case of adultery surfaces, but the plot fails to thicken. Finally, the murderer is exposed — it might as well have been anyone — and we can finally leave the theater. We're not exactly exhausted, just grateful that modern plays don't go more than three acts.

Still, there are consolations. The acting in 'Tis the Season is almost all first quality, demonstrating just how much talented performers can redeem even the most stereotypical characters. Jack Brand, who was so convincing in the Webb's City reprise a few weeks ago, turns in another fine performance here as lothario Herring, and the always dependable Steven Clark Pachosa does everything he can to give some breadth to the part of Dr. Blicktenstein. Jessica Alexander seems to specialize in silly blondes — she played the part successfully in Theatre Hell, and does it again here as the anxious Martha Wells. Michael Dayton does his utmost to give personality to the underwritten part of magician Calvert, and Vivienne Brown gives the exceedingly minor role of Bonnie Jackendorf an impressive vitality (if only we knew what she was doing in the play!).

I wasn't quite so impressed by Michael George Owens as Mr. Hooks. His crusty manner is finally too abrasive, and he has an occasional tendency to garble his words. And Joanna Sycz in the pivotal role of waitress/detective O'Flaherty doesn't really succeed in explain to us why the other characters let her dominate the investigation. Theresa Beck's set is a hands-down success, though: Beck furnishes the Magic Room of the lodge with everything from a guillotine to a rabbit-shaped table, and backs it all with a colorful wall of famous magician posters. And there's nothing wrong with Kathy Buck's felicitous costumes or Sean Sanczel's sound design.

But character, as they say, is destiny; and these characters are too thin to make their destinies seem anything more than trivial. That doesn't mean the play is a total loss; as I said, the magic show is mildly ingratiating, and further, one feels throughout the evening author Hampton's creditable desire to please his audience. If only it were that simple; if only good intentions and holiday spirit were enough to make a play work, 'Tis the Season to Do Folly would intrigue us with its characters, mystify us with its murders, and finally delight us with its elegant, unexpected but inevitable solution. That's how the best of these things work, from Agatha Christie to Anthony Shaffer, from Sherlock Holmes to Columbo.

But that's a level never achieved by 'Tis the Season to Do Folly.

Holiday Candy. 'Twas The Night Before Christmas, currently playing at American Stage, is a brief, harmless trifle aimed at children particularly, and containing a scene or two that might please an adult. On Scott Cooper's charming set — an oversize greeting card with a drawing of Santa Claus, a couple of candy canes and a December calendar — actors Ronald J. Aulgur, Emilia Sargent and Brian Shea play various parts, all relating to the famous poem by Clement Moore. Meanwhile, a 12-member children's chorus appears in various guises — as urchins, angels and reindeer, for instance — and alternate between a few well-known Christmas carols and more contemporary songs by local composer/lyricist Lee Ahlin.

The major weakness in the show is Victoria Holloway's script, which jumps from story to story, never staying at any one long enough to build real momentum. Children in the audience will probably be most interested in the segment about Santa Claus' childhood, when he was, we learn, just an ordinary boy named Nicholas. As actor Shea, in minister's guise, tells the story, Nicholas (Danny Tuegel) appears, characteristically offering to share his lunch with other village children or pouring coins down a chimney in order to help a poor family. Other stories involve Aulgur as bookstore owner Mr. Campizi, reading about a challenge to Moore's authorship of the famous poem, as well as a vignette set in 1775, which somehow involves Minutemen.

I admit to not understanding how all of this is supposed to hold together, but on the other hand, none of the children sitting around me seemed the least bit confused. Ellen Graham's direction is straightforward, Ahlin's music is, as usual, enjoyable, and Christopher James' lighting nicely transforms a solid wall into a transparent scrim, behind which carolers sing. Finally, I should note that this is a show without much ambition, and not to be confused with such past adult fare at American Stage as Holiday Memories or The Gifts of the Magi.

And that, my friends, concludes 2001. May 2002 bring us all wonderful experiences — both in and out of the theater.

Happy New Year.

Mark E. Leib can be reached at mark.leib@weeklyplanet.com or 813-248-8888, ext. 305.

This article appears in Dec 27, 2001 – Jan 2, 2002.