‘Death By Design’ Mixes Comedy and Mystery at Adobe Theater

August 26 — A weekend retreat in a country house, a radical socialist, a politician and

a myopic naive woman mixes with a mixture of Noël Coward and Agatha Christie.

They all carry secrets.

Opening at the Adobe Theatre on Friday, August 30, “Death By Design” blends comedy and mystery in a fast-paced farce featuring a tangle of wacky twists and turns.

“It’s a mystery,” said director Lewis Hauser. “It’s also a comedy. It’s a throwback to the old-fashioned mysteries of the 1930s. It’s just one twist after another.”

It is 1932 and Edward Bennett, playwright, and his actress wife Sorel have just had a disastrous first evening.

She is an extravagant, flirtatious and capricious actress, and it is perfectly obvious that Gertrude Lawrence, of whom she is passionately jealous, is much better. They have fled London to their country house, but their peace is shattered by the arrival of unexpected and eccentric guests. When one of the guests is murdered, Bridgit, the manor’s fiery Irish maid who takes a macabre interest in homicides, is determined to solve the crime, armed with a feather duster.

“They all get mixed up when a murder happens,” Hauser said. “All these people are involved in the murder in some way. It’s up to the audience to figure out what’s going on.”

Over the years, Hauser has directed numerous comedies for The Adobe Theater. Last year, he presented Neil Simon’s “The Dinner Party.”

The cast includes Isaac Carrillo, Tim Crofton, Clair Gardner, Sarah Kesselring, Kristine Padilla, Rhonda Sigler-Ware, Dan Ware and Julian Wheaton.