'Shear Madness' keeps the madness alive

The whodunit comedy opened at Invisible Theatre Wednesday with a sold-out audience ready to laugh hysterically at bad jokes, characters that were caricatures, and a plot that they — the audience — had to complete.

And oh how they loved it.

This is not a play that can be defined as “serious theater” — but then, that’s not the intention.

The intention, it appears, is pure, unadulterated fun. And it definitely succeeds at that.

It starts with the set of the Shear Madness beauty salon, designed by James Blair and Susan Claassen, though Blair quickly gives Claassen credit for the inspiration.

Inspiration may not be the right word, but it is a hoot: Bright, bright yellow walls. Red accents. Black-and-white-checkered floor. A black-and-white, polka-dotted door.

Of course there’s a working sink. Lots of shampoo, hair spray, nail polish, and a sign that advises, “Stay calm and get your hair done.”

No one pays much attention to that — calm is not a word I would apply to any of these characters.

The set-up is this: The flamboyant Tony (a wonderfully over-the-top Robert Encila) owns Shear Madness. The gum-chomping Barbara (Lori Hunt, who is perfection) works with him. A few floors above them lives the landlady — a once-famous pianist who insists on playing Rachmaninoff loudly enough to drown out the shop’s very loud rock and roll.

During the course of an afternoon, the landlady (whom we never meet, though we know her well) is stabbed to death with cutting shears. Whodunit? Could it be Barbara, who has a suspicious relationship with the deceased? Or Tony, who hates the music and, well, she is his landlady?

Maybe it’s Eddie (a subdued Eric Anson), who’s ostensibly there for a haircut but keeps slipping in and out and carries a mysterious briefcase. Or perhaps the snippy customer, Mrs. Shubert (Susan Kovitz in a wicked portrayal of the better-and-richer-than-thou class).

Jack Neubeck and Jesse Boone play a couple of cops trying to unravel the mystery, and each adds to the humor of the play.

Then there is the audience. On opening night, as the lights went up late in the first act and one of the detectives turned to the attendees and asked what we saw, hands flew up and answers were shouted out. There was a wonderfully odd glee as audience members tattled on any suspicious behavior they spotted from the characters.

During intermission, people flocked to the cop in the lobby, who was ready to listen to theories and write down questions for the suspects.

The ending is fluid; it depends on the result of the audience’s vote for which suspect they think committed the crime. It might be Barbara tonight, Tony tomorrow, and so on. Heck, the audience may even decide the cops did it. No doubt this IT cast will make the most of that, as well.

Here’s the trick to this: Although there is a structure to the play, and a script, the actors have to be on their toes, ready to respond to what the audience has to say.

And this cast was most definitely on their toes.

Director Classsen has put together a rich group comfortable thinking fast and playing broad.

Your mind won’t be expanded; ideas won’t be launched. But you’ll laugh. And sometimes — OK, often — that is good enough.