The clock strikes 12. The lights flicker and go dark. When they return, one of the guests is dead. If you've zeroed in on the laundry list of cliches that stick out like a sore thumb, you're right on target and getting the big picture. Moving bookcases lead to secret passageways.
Women slip down to the basement to check out strange sounds.
People aren't really who they appear to be and in the end the good guy gets the girl. It's a mystery that's perfectly predictable, absolutely unoriginal and consciously cliched. Still, it's no mystery why producer George Jaber of theater the department of Community College of Allegheny County, South Campus, would stage it. Because more than anything else, it's fun. Simon's lyrics are wry, witty and completely incidental to the story.