Thursday, July 12, through Sunday, July 22
Richmond Hill Barn Theatre, 600 Robinson Drive, Geneseo IA
Continuing its 50th-anniversary season of audience-favorite revivals, Geneseo's Richmond Barn Theatre will present, from July 12 through 22, author Jack Popplewell's mystery-comedy Busybody with Jackie Skiles returning to her beloved 2009 role as Cockney housekeeper Lily, a turn that inspired the River Cities' Reader to rave, “Beyond the beauty of her timing, everything about the actress' portrayal is right on the money.”
Set in England, Busybody centers on the voluble Lily, who lives in the basement of the office building she cleans. One night, she comes home to finds a dead body, but by the time the police arrive, there is no longer any body, and no evidence of a crime. The experience is consequently chalked up to the cleaning woman's imagination, until an unidentified body is discovered on a distant hill, and Lily uncovers more evidence in the course of her duties. Is the company owner staging his own murder, or did he perhaps kill his wife's lover? Is this lover an employee of the firm, or someone else entirely? Where do the company's two female assistants fit in, and what is the mysterious wife withholding? Laughs and tingles result from Popplewell's London hit, a work that IowaTheatre.wordpress.com described as “action-packed” and “a wild whodunnit.”
Serving as Busybody's director is frequent Richmond Hill helmer Joe DePauw, who also directed 2009's production of the comedy, plus presentations of The Importance of Being Earnest, Checkmate, and A Bad Year for Tomatoes. In addition to portraying Lily in 2009, Skiles has appeared in numerous Richmond Hill shows including California Suite, Dearly Beloved, and Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike. And joining Skiles in Busy are seven other gifted area performers: Nathan Johnson, Joseph LoGiudice, Gregory O'Neill, Mallory Park, Suzanne Rakestraw, Elizabeth Shaffer, and Jim Strauss.
Busybody runs Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m., tickets are $12, and more information and reservations are available by calling (309)944-2244 or visiting RHPlayers.com.
