RAVENSCROFT
Where: 805 Langham Court, Victoria
When: Sept. 25-Oct. 13
Tickets: $19-$26 from
At the turn of the 1990s, straightforward dramas like Dancing at Lughnasa and heartfelt comedies à la Lost in Yonkers — not crafty whodunits like Don Nigro’s Ravenscroft — were winning Tony Awards by the bushel.
But the latter play has come roaring back into fashion, largely due to the silver screen success of 2019’s Knives Out, a sharply-written yarn that earned an Academy Award nomination for best original screenplay. The cat-and-mouse mystery, starring Daniel Craig, was named by the Writers Guild of America as one of the 101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century (So Far), and produced two high-profile movie sequels. Better still, it renewed interested in work by mystery authors like Agatha Christie, the best-selling fiction writer of all time.
Christie is a clear source of inspiration for Nigro, and the style she pioneered is alive and well in Ravenscroft, a production of which opens at Langham Court Theatre tonight. The run is directed by Diana Budiachenko, who was drawn to the black comedy after seeing it billed as “a thinking person’s Gothic thriller” in press materials. After signing on to direct, Budiachenko had a different take on the material, however.
“I found it very funny,” she said with a laugh. “It’s advertised as a gothic thriller, but to me it’s more of a comedy. I wanted to make it spooky, but along the way it was looking more and more funny.”
The murder mystery combines slapstick and a few red herrings, among other staples of the murder-mystery genre. Set on a snowy night in a remote house — naturally — a sudden death results in the attention of Inspector Ruffing, who attempts to uncover which of the five women inside is responsible. It leans more comedy than mystery, according to Budiachenko, who was happy to explore the comedic realm for the first time in her varied career.
“It’s very intelligently written,” she said. “The characters are very eccentric, so I tried to make sure they came across that way. As a director, if you pay attention to the dialogue, and stage what is written, it’s very hilarious. It’s not below the belt.”
She did not know much about the play or playwright before she was offered the directing job, her first opportunity of that kind in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ (“What I did in Ukraine was mostly stage novel adaptations and poems,” she said. “This one is quite different.”)
Budiachenko, who moved to Victoria two years ago from Odesa, Ukraine, has been involved with mostly serious works since her arrival, though little thus far has been what she would call traditional fare.
A former directing intern with The Belfry Theatre, as part of its Emerging Artist Enhancement Program, she worked with Theatre SKAM on her own adaptation of the beloved Ukrainian fairytale, Mavka and the Forest Song. She also co-directed this year’s A Dictionary of Emotions in War Time, a riveting, true-to-life co-production between Help Ukraine Vancouver Island Society and Langham Court, with net proceeds from the production supporting displaced Ukrainians on Vancouver Island.
Budiachenko has plenty of stage experience. She has multiple degrees, including a master’s degree in performing arts, and was an established director back home. But to everyone involved, A Dictionary of Emotions in War Time (which starkly details the Russian invasion of Ukraine) was groundbreaking theatre, and went a long way to educating audiences in Victoria about the atrocities of war.
Budiachenko said she was humbled by the experience. Not only was it an emotional rollercoaster, producing a play about the war affecting her homeland, the learning curve was also steep, in terms of her transition into Canadian theatre.
“It was was different, in every aspect,” Budiachenko said. “The timing is very different from what I’m used to. And the culture of theatre is different [in Victoria]. There was lots of things I had to learn on the go. [Ravenscroft] is another challenge. Every new play is a challenge. And I like trying something new.”
