Get a Clue with New West’s latest

By Lethbridge Herald on September 2, 2025.

Al Beeber
Lethbridge Herald

Don’t have a clue how to unwind with the family after the kids are  back in school and vacations are over?

Well, New West does in “Clue:On Stage.”

Inspired by the 1985 film and Hasbro board game, “Clue: On Stage” will  run at the Yates Centre from Sept. 5-20. Based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn and written by Sandy Rustin,  New West’s “Clue” is being directed by Mark Bellamy.

Now regarded as a cult classic, the  film “Clue” originally hit  theatres – which showed one of three different endings – with only  lukewarm response from audiences and film critics alike but the murder  mystery board game (called Cluedo in other parts of the world) has  been a huge hit since it was created in by British game designer  Anthony E. Pratt.

New West’s theatrical production is a classic – and comedic – whodunit  involving blackmail and murder which will have audiences wondering who  did it through 90 fast-paced minutes.

“Clue” has a cast of 11, including six local actors, which artistic  director Kelly Reay said this week in an interview was aimportant.

Four days of auditions were staged, including two in Calgary, as New  West cast a net across the province for actors, Reay said. Nearly 100  performers auditioned for roles in the production.

Familiar faces on stage will include such actors Brian Quinn, Nicola  Elson, Chris Kyle Peterson, and Ashley Thomson. A core of the cast are  graduates of the University of Lethbridge, including Gregory Wilson,  Griffin Cork, Kelly Malcolm and Parker Hickerty who is currently a  student.

“There’s all sorts of great community connections” to the city and U  of L in the play, Reay said. For some actors, this will be their time  on a stage at the Yates for New West, he added.

“We really expanded our net to try to get some eyes on New West  Theatre. We’re part of a greater theatre ecology, a performing arts  ecology in the province and so we want to make sure that folks around  the province know what New West Theatre is,” he added.

“The stage play is based on the movie which is inspired by the board  game so it’s a farcical murder mystery that’s silly, it doesn’t take  itself seriously. It’s there strictly for laughs, levity and good  times,” said Reay, with six zany characters who come to a giant manor  and audiences discover there are unsolved murders with everyone a  suspect.

“It’s a romp through the house as these zany characters try to solve  the mystery of the murder. It’s silly and it’s fun and it’s  hilarious,” with slapstick and physical comedy that goes at a  breakneck pace, said Reay.

New West is hoping people who loved the movie will come to the play  because the troupe believes they will love “Clue: On Stage” as well.

The premise of the play revolves around six characters who are invited  to a secluded manor where they learn of blackmail and a murder ensues.  In addition to the six characters, there are six different weapons and  nine rooms. Characters must deduce the killer, the weapon and the  room, a potentially daunting task because there are 324 different  possibilities.

“Clue: On Stage” will be performed at 7:30 nightly during its run with  a few 1 p.m. matinees. Showtimes and ticket prices can be found online  at https://visitlethbridgearena.evenue.net/events/NWTB