By Suzi Bond

For guest director Felicity Johnson, community theater is a great way to bring people together. “Families work together, teens make friends with adults and a bonding occurs. It is a safe environment where people of like minds are gathered and everyone is treated as an equal. Teens who may be having issues can find an adult with whom they can share their problems. It is wonderful to see these kids grow and watch their development.” Johnson has melded community members together as the cast of Agatha Christie’s murder mystery, “The Hollow.” The Waimea Community Theater (WCT) production opens Friday February 24 and runs for two weekends only at Parker School Theater.

In the true spirit of involving families, the part of Gerda is being played by Lisa Anderson, Cristow’s colorless wife. “Lisa came to bring her son, Jacy, to audition. To help out, she offered to read a part for the audition, and she got a part. She plays a complicated character with a simpleton-ness and she does it well.” Jacy Anderson was cast as Edward who is in love with Henrietta, and is loved by Midge.

The cast also features Dr. John Stover as the good-looking womanizer Dr. John Cristow, who is at the center of the trouble. “He has a good feeling for the part and it is fun to see him having fun with the part. Raina Thering, who plays the part of Midge, is an incredible actress. She is small in stature, but handles the storminess of a young woman whose “love-of-her-life” treats her as a child. John Sucke and Gail Mueller slid into their roles of wealthy Sir Henry and Lucy Angkatell residents of The Hollow, the private estate home, like hands into comfortable gloves.” Others in the cast are Jennifer McCord as Henrietta, one of Henry’s cousins, Dedrie Miller is Veronica, a beautiful movie star, Gary Hagerman is Gudgeon the butler and Rona Lee Doris is the maid. Playing Inspector Colquhoun and his hardworking detective Sergeant Penny are Bob Haber and Daryl Jim Diaz.

Working with her “amazing cast,” Johnson has had them immersing themselves in their characters and learning about the era in which the show is set. “The year is 1951, just a few years after the end of World War II. There was rationing which showcases the obvious difference between the upper class, who could acquire coupons, and the lower class, which were catching fish for their food. Petrol…everything was rationed. Having this information helps to develop the characters and the relationships between the characters. The inspector and the sergeant have little regard for the “aristocrats” and the feeling is mutual. There is a great exchange between them. The butler is snobby to the police, all the while supporting the family to whom he is loyal. It was a different time with different attitudes.”

“This is not one of the more familiar of Christie’s plays, it is often thought by critics to be one of her best written works,” says Johnson. “It was made into one of the Poirot mysteries, but as a play it is just terrific. It is a little different from her more familiar works as it has a twist ending. And just when you think you know everything, you don’t.” Johnson, best known for directing the group’s Shakespeare series over the past twenty years, confesses to a fondness for the whodunit, and previously directed Christie’s “Murder on the Nile” for WCT. The retired founding head of Hualalai Academy is an educator who teaches acting for Aloha Performing Arts Company and in her current business, Suite Possibilities, an office space for people who need a place to meet.

The play will be presented February 24 through March 4. Friday and Saturday shows at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. Ticket prices are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and students, and $10 for children. Tickets are available with an advance sale discount from the theatre’s ticket outlets, Waimea General Store and Without Boundaries in Waimea, and at Suite Possibilities in Kona. General Admission Tickets are available from the Box Office 45 minutes before each performance. For more information go to their website, www.waimeacommunitytheatre.org.