Karen Bassett, Theofani Pitsiavas and James MacLean. Photo by Dave Risk
Steven Gallagher’s play Murder at Ackerton Manor is on stage now, and just until July 25th at Festival Antigonish. It is a spoof of Agatha Christie novels, so it is both a whodunnit and a comedy, with three actors playing seven characters, including “five ridiculous suspects.” I had the opportunity to chat with director Andrea Boyd and two of the actors Theofani Pitsiavas and Karen Bassett via Zoom about all the hilarity and hijinks happening at the Bauer Theatre.
Boyd said that despite the fact that it’s “very, very funny, very fast-paced [with] three actors [playing] seven roles- each with a different accent- it is also a smart mystery, along with being a very physical comedy.”
“I’ve been saying this play is the closest I’m ever going to get to being in an episode of Three’s Company,” says Karen Bassett, citing, of course, the farcical television series that first aired in 1976 and starred John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt, and Suzanne Somers. “We’re only missing the swinging door.”
Bassett and Pitsiavas met in the Irondale Ensemble Project where they did a lot of physical work and dance. Both of them, along with fellow cast member James MacLean, are bringing a lot of their physical theatre prowess to this production. “I’m in a happy place in this play,” Bassett says, “and in a happy place reunited with Theofani after we’ve been working together for something like thirty-two years. So we help each other out with bits of shtick.” Bassett demonstrates how precise the mechanics of this kind of physical comedy can be by holding up her arm and showing me how between the two of them in any given situation they can figure out what height and angle for her arm is going to be the funniest choice. Boyd says that they “take comedy very seriously.” “That’s what it is,” says Pitsiavas, “comedy, live comedy, is precision, and it’s timing, and you gotta nail it. You gotta practice it too, right? And then you feel it, too, onstage…. James fit into it perfectly too.”
He says that this is his first time working with MacLean. “He’s a terrific character actor.” “He also has the most difficult job in this play, I would say,” says Bassett. “He plays three characters, has four different dialects, and has what I would describe as Olympic costume changes.” “We all have lightning quick changes,” says Pitsiavas. He says that the way the play is constructed the perpetual costume changes are designed to be an added layer of comedy for the audience, and that there are moments in the script that break the fourth wall a bit to allude to their changing costumes. “They’re difficult changes,” he says, “but we’ve mastered them for sure.” They are helped backstage by Hollie Spicer, their dresser, who Bassett describes as “incredible.” Boyd says that while the actors never fully break character there are moments when a character will make reference to the other character that their actor plays in ways that are very funny for the audience to see how they are then going to get that character onstage, especially in the layout of the Bauer’s thrust stage where actors make exits and entrances up and down aisles through the audience. “How that is dealt with is really fun and theatrical, and the audience is in on that,” she says. “It’s like a wink,” adds Bassett, “like a wink to them.”
Basett plays Ariadne Ackerton, the sister of the murder victim, and Professor Basil Lemon, a professor and an inventor. Pitsiavas plays the classic Belgian detective character, Pierre Pierrot, and Roger Ackerton, who is “a very evil man, and he owns Ackerton Manor. People have come to dinner that night, and there’s a murder, and it’s a dark and stormy night- the roads are washed out, the telephone lines are down, and there’s been a murder, and then this detective shows up.” “As they do,” adds Bassett. She says the world of the play is similar to the world of the television series Murder She Wrote (1984). “In the middle of the English Countryside set in the ’50s,” adds Pitsiavas. The set is designed by Vickie Marston, and it is full of all sorts of little tricks that create the murder mystery magic. Bassett says the construction of the set has been especially expertly assembled. “I can really slam those doors, you know?” she says. “Very satisfying.”
Boyd says that the set was constructed by a local contractor who has previously worked on a number of Theatre Antigonish shows, and he has performed in some community parts at the theatre, but this is his first time building for Festival Antigonish. “He built it like a house. Solid,” she says. Everyone in the crew, costume designer Sylvia Nowell, lighting designer Ingrid Risk, sound designer Paul Morgan Donald, and Stage Manager Sarah O’Brien have all worked together seamlessly. “At tech rehearsal, cue to cue, I hardly have to say anything,” says Boyd because folks are already a step ahead of her. “Our stage manager, Sarah O’Brien, is top shelf,” says Pitsiavas. “I’ve never worked with her [before], this is my first time, she’s one of the best I’ve ever worked with,” he says. This is her twenty-sixth year working at the theatre. “I would describe Sarah as the lighthouse of Festival Antigonish. She’s fantastic,” Bassett says.
Theofani Pitsiavas & Karen Bassett Photo: Dave Risk
Bassett also serves as the fight choreographer. There is an extra challenge for blocking and choreography because of the thrust stage. Bassett says that “physical comedy is physical storytelling,” and since there are audiences on three sides, and the amount of space on stage is limited, they have to work creatively within these parameters.
“There’s a fight near the top of the show that kind of sets the train in motion, shall we say, for the plot. I think I wrote some pretty funny schtick into that,” she says. When Steven Gallagher came to see the show on Opening Night Bassett told Pitsiavas that she thought Gallagher might end up incorporating some of that schtick into the script for future performances. Sure enough, in a conversation afterwards he told her that he had seen some elements in the opening sequence that he was going to steal. “And I said, ‘I know exactly what they are!’” says Bassett triumphantly.
Gallagher is going to be directing the show at 1000 Islands Playhouse in Gananoque, Ontario later this summer. Bassett and Pitsiavas say that Gallagher was really pleased with the production in Antigonish, and that their physical comedy skills really “nailed the style” of the show. Pitsiavas says that there’s a balance to strike between the red herrings and the ridiculous schtick, but also the reality of the mystery and “this detective who is trying to really earnestly solve this mystery for his own reasons.” “So, it’s Three’s Company, meets Murder She Wrote, meets Pierrot, meets Clue,” adds Bassett.
Boyd adds that Gallagher grew up reading and watching Agatha Christie mysteries, and that for fans of the genre there are lots of little easter eggs for them to recognize.
Karen Bassett is known throughout the province and the region and beyond as one of Canada’s best fight directors, and so much of the foundational skills that she acquired for both fight choreography and physical comedy came from the Irondale Ensemble. This company was based in improvisation, and their work explored social justice issues. They would create these “epic shows” that had improvisational elements, written elements, dance pieces and music. The ensemble’s process of working together every day improvising in rehearsal made them unique. “You really develop this cohesive unit. It’s almost like playing jazz,” says Pitsiavas. “We both cut our teeth in that in the early 1990s. A lot of what I learned came out of there,” he says. The first Artistic Director was Stephen Cross, and Chris Little was also involved in the ensemble. Bassett says that Little described the company by saying, “I’ve never seen socialist theatre with so much dancing.” She laughs. “It wasn’t pure agitprop, it wasn’t strident like that, there was a lot of humour in it, but it was definitely political and with a social justice lens, and I’m like ‘who’s doing that now?’ We worked together five days a week, sometimes six, and that was year round, except for the summer. So we trained every single day in improv, and some kind of physical theatre skill, or dance…. It was very foundational for me as a career launch,” she says.
Bassett also points out that when she studied at Dalhousie University’s Acting Program they had movement, they had mask, jazz and ballet, but there was no fight direction. “I didn’t know what a fight director was when I graduated,” she says. Getting in with the folks at Irondale was what made her realize that it was the physical aspect of theatre that she loved so much. She recognized that she was a “mover.” “When I got into dance and clowning, it was just a natural access point to ‘oh, I want to do that thing now with knives. I want to move with knives now.’ It’s been incredibly rewarding being a fight director. Making fights is so interesting, having actors feel comfortable in them is always my end game. I want you to look good. I want you to be telling the story well. And, in this case, I’m right there in the room [already].”
“Which means that in the middle of [blocking] the scene I can be like, ‘Can we have a slap in here?’” Says Boyd, and Bassett is right there with the answer.
James MacLean and Karen Bassett Photo: Dave Risk
“I’m very blessed. I’m very fortunate. The people I’ve met and worked with, and the interesting, creative stuff I’ve had to do- I learned all about illusionist magic and how that applies to fight direction- it’s been a great career,” Bassett says.
This time last year it was unclear whether this season’s shows would be able to be performed in the Bauer Theatre as the venue needed significant life-safety upgrades to meet safety concerns raised by the fire marshal. They have raised a significant portion of their fundraising goal of $500,000, but they are still looking for donations to their Bridge the Bauer Campaign. They hired an engineering firm based in New Brunswick to come up with a plan, which has been accepted by the fire marshal, and the contractors have been hired to begin the work after the summer season. With all the work that they were able to do over the last year already they were given permission to use the building this summer with certain stipulations. The money that they have raised has largely come from the community in Antigonish. “One of our strengths here is our connection to our community.” Boyd notes that because Theatre Antigonish is a professionally led community theatre, founded in 1974, folks who are involved in the community theatre shows during the year come to Festival Antigonish, the professional summer theatre, to usher, and volunteer in the summer because the theatre is a special place for them. Bassett mentions seeing a teenager after the show who was in the community cast of Robin Hood with her five years ago when he was ten years old. She is marvelling over how tall he has gotten. “His whole family has been involved [with shows here],” says Boyd. Nate’s older brother, Cameron, was one of the mice in The Ash Girl. Their parents have done anything and everything they can to help out around the theatre over the years. Boyd said at first the boys’ dad, Sean, didn’t want to have an acting role, but that after stepping in when they were short a performer, he ended up having a leading role in their production of Hector the Spectre in 2024. “He was fabulous and confident, and delightful, and hilarious… It’s that connection and that feeling of belonging here that is really strong, and really great, and supports the professional theatre in so many ways.”
Boyd says that if you are coming to Antigonish and are looking for somewhere to grab a bite before or after the show you get a discount at Gabrieau’s Bistro with your ticket. “There’s a food truck in the Sobeys parking lot that looks real popular,” offers Bassett. There are also so many beautiful beaches, and lakes if you are hankering to jump into some water.
Bassett says that from her vantage point onstage the people in the audiences for Murder at Ackerton Manor are having a really great time. “We’ve been pretty full the last few shows,” she says, “and they are very happy people.”
“[They’re] a loveable space that [need] your face/ Three’s Company Too.”
There’s only THREE more chances for you to see this show- Friday July 24th, 2026 at 7:30pm or Saturday July 25th at 2:00pm or 7:30pm at the Bauer Theatre. Tickets range in price from $16.32 for Youth Under 16 to $37.63 for General Admission with Student and Senior Pricing in the middle They are available at this website, by calling the Box Office at 902-867-3333, or going in person to 5015 Chapel Square, Antigonish.
Accessibility Information from the Festival Antigonish Website: Festival Antigonish is committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive theatre experience for everyone. The Bauer Theatre offers wheelchair accessible seating, assistive listening technology, and a variety of programs designed to make theatre more accessible to our community. We also offer initiatives such as Pay What You Can previews, Relaxed Performances, and community events that help remove barriers and create a supportive environment for all audiences. If you require accommodations or accessibility support, we’re here to help.
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