The Man on the Stairs doesn't fall down

Kym Fleming and Angela Strang

As the curtain rose at the Brittania Hall in Tyne Valley last week, it unveiled a remake of a popular play and revealed some of Western P.E.I.'s home-grown talent.
Prince County presented its first production of The Man on the Stairs. The three hour long play was written by literary award winner L.E. Evans from Alberta. We were a bit skeptical about it in the beginning but soon changed our minds after witnessing the sheer dedication brought about by our friend, classmate and one of the main characters, journalism joker, D'Arcy Ellis.
A few adjustments were done by some of the characters, along with some trendy catch phrases thrown in for fun.
There was comedy, mystery and a twist of surprise. The reaction from the full-house crowd spoke for itself.
The play's story unravelled slowly and mysteriously, beginning with the ghostly apparition of a senile woman, Molly Bremmer, and her supportive, yet skeptical niece, Mary Jane. MLA, Philip Brown played Jed Stuart, Mary Jane's bag-of-nerves boyfriend. (Who gracefully handled the ad-libbed Conservative digs.) The story included shifty neighbours, snobby relatives, and the eager hands looking for inheritance money. And who could forget the conniving, cigar-smoking lawyer, played by Ellis. In fact, he may have missed his calling.
The acting was wonderful, the levels of humour and mystery were perfect, the suspense was brain-racking, and the drive to Western P.E.I. definitely worth it.