'Earth and Sky' converge in Oak Harbor

"Earth and Sky," a mystery opening Friday at the Whidbey Playhouse, is a hard play to figure out. That might be part of its mystery nature. The Playhouse' theme is "The Season of Love," but, not really a spoiler alert, David (played with quiet fortitude by David Thuet) is murdered almost as soon as he appears. Why? Detectives Weber (Wesley Moran, succeeding at not being likeable) and Kershowski (Gary Gillespie, the quiet sidekick) soon show up in girlfriend Sara's (Anna Schenck, a steady performance) apartment to break the news.

Turns out that Sara is the best detective of the three, seeking to learn why David would get a

1 a.m. phone call from an old girl friend after closing up his restaurant before heading to Sara's. She hits a lot of walls while appearing in every scene, and there are a lot of short scenes as clues and characters lead her steadily on.

The set's central motif are five brick or concrete walls set fairly close to the stage's edge. That is another good clue. Everything is superficial, out front. What is behind the wall is unseen, impenetrable and unknowable.

As Sara weaves through the scenes, she meets more characters, most who knew David, including Weber. The detective does a good job of being disagreeable, but is he also not competent? He hits on Sara, crudely, but also raises questions of David's past. Was he pushing heroin, a front person for the mob? How could he afford to buy the restaurant he owned?

Regular flashback scenes show glimpses of their relationship. These are reverse sequential, from their tenth week back to the night they met on a city beach. Left hanging unanswered is why was he so quick to commit to Sarah and so interested in their taking an international vacation to leave it all behind?

David conveys a genuine love for Sarah without revealing why. And why does Sarah, a full-time poet and part-time librarian, love David so? They are obviously in love, their romance consummated early.

Playwright Douglas Post leaves Director Kevin Wm. Meyer and the cast to struggle with pieces of a mystery that do not add up. Audience members watching closely will not figure out the plot. Instead, the playwright dilutes, indeed destroys his purpose by having the actors explain each bad guy's behavior, leaving no clue left unturned. Weber foremost among them, in telegraphing motives, though one, Joyce (Jaime Powell), is buried so deeply undercover that the surprise is ruined because it is unbelievable. No spoiler alert here. You will see it play out at the end. That is the script's limitation and not the actors.

A couple of well-cast actors fully embody their menacing, thug names and natures. They venture into caricature, not because of greasy hair and three day beards (Nate Edmiston, as Julius Gatz) or vague Eastern European accents (Rusty Chapin as Carl Eisenstadt), but because of stereotypical names bestowed by the playwright in support of two-dimensional roles.

The same is true for Marie (Abby Thuet), the not-very-smart blonde ex-girlfirend.

So the playwright disappoints. It is a mystery why the playhouse team and director chose this play.

The plays subtitle is "The end is just the beginning." That is perhaps the evening's best clue of things to come.

"Earth and Sky" is a line in a Dylan Thomas poem Sara reads in the second act. Sara is thoughtful smart but keeps getting surprised by plot twists.

Performances are Friday-Sunday through Nov. 20. For times and tickets: whidbeyplayhouse.com and

360-679-2237.