Detective Mark McPherson is sent to solve a murder. A body has been discovered with a mutilated face. From what he infers, the victim is Laura Hunt. In her apartment. He learns details of her past, her interests, her moods. Gazing upon her portrait, he gradually becomes infatuated, perhaps intoxicated. The men in her life, mostly Platonic, are Danny, who listens to jazz records with her, Waldo, her erudite and droll critic, and Shelby her possible fiance. Each feels a strong emotional tie to Laura. Subsequently, each is a possible suspect.
I apologize for the spoiler alert, but it turns out Laura is alive after all. She visits her cabin in the woods, for reflection and solitude. She loans her apartment in the city to a friend. Sadly the murderer mistakes her for Laura. When Laura shows up on the QT, McPherson, naturally, is overcome. A love he never thought possible, has turned up. The two spend the night with coffee and conversation. The others start scrambling for alibis.
There are many thing to appreciate in Rover Dramawerks production of Laura, an exercise in Noir. Noir evokes a chill worldview: cynicism, brusque and clever dialogue, ruthless motives, an undercurrent of despair. An uneasy balance to be sure. Rover has taken these ingredients and combined them with ingenuity and imagination. The setting suggests understated opulence but also detachment. The script includes a lot of colloquialisms from back in the day, and the actors quite comfortable with the lingo. (I recognized some slang from O’Neill.) The acting is subdued, with an edge. It’s difficult to pull off this kind of homage without resorting to caricature, but no worries for director Carol M. Rice. It’s as if she built it from the ground up. With aplomb.
Rover has assembled a time machine to New York back in the 1940’s. The lonely lives of characters and intense attraction, The disappointment and suspicion, and coldness to keep predators at a distance. Written by Vera Caspary and George Sklar, this is a somber rumination on the struggle for genuine contact. Carol M. Rice, the cast and crew have tapped into this lightning in a bottle.
Rover Dramawerks presents Laura, playing June 4th-20th, 2026. Cox Playhouse, 1517 H Avenue, Plano, Texas 75074. 972-349-0358 www.roverdramawerks.com
