Accused!
The Victorian Ladies Detective Collective Trilogy is Complete With a Case Involving Terrorism
By: Victor Cordell - Jul 15, 2024
Writers and producers have long valued sequels to popular works as a low-risk way to develop new product with the knowledge that its lead characters and structure have already succeeded with audiences. And nothing succeeds like success, so that a sequel that works often leads to a third in a series.
Patricia Milton serves as Resident Playwright at Central Works: The New Play Theater, and she has hit a happy trifecta with her mystery-comedy series. Beginning with “Victorian Ladies Detective Collective” in 2019, and then “Escape from the Asylum,” she now debuts “Accused!” to close out the trilogy. As suggested by the first title, the central theme concerns women who solve mysteries in London around the Naughty Nineties – the 1890s, that is.
Three well-delineated detectiving ladies have been a constant in the series. Valeria (Jan Zvaifler reprising the role for a third time), a mature widow whose husband’s murder was unsolved, operates lodgings in London near the theater district, where Jack the Ripper type murders have taken place.
Valeria’s situation is complicated by the fact that Lord Albert (portrayed by another third-timer, Alan Coyne) threatens to have her husband’s murder investigation reopened and to implicate her, if she refuses to sponsor his membership into the Horticultural Society. Despite her fears of indictment, Valeria is true to her passion of gardening and refuses to give in to the inept cultivator, and Lord Albert may rue his intimidation. This situation evidences class distinctions (Lord Albert states “Impudence is my birthright”), gender disparities, and official corruption of the day in one fell swoop.
Valeria’s determined and analytical unmarried sister, Loveday (Lauren Dunagan in her role debut), has returned to live with her. She leads in trying to solve the crimes in this installment, while her sister demurs, perhaps fearful of bringing public attention to herself. The final participant in sleuthing is Katie (Chelsea Bearce, a third timer), a young American who came to London as a wannabe actress, but has become a card-carrying private eye. Katie’s irreverence, cynicism, and groundedness stand against the formality of the sisters.
The storyline of “Accused!” centers on one of the socio-political movements of the day, anarchism. One of the complications is that Loveday and Katie admit to sympathizing with the anarchists’ goals of better conditions for the poor, making themselves suspects in the eyes of the law. Of course, the lady detectives are viewed as incompetent outsiders to suss out the crimes that are committed, but in a twist, the police inspector (Sindu Singh) who is involved in the case is also a woman. But unlike the sisters, she is of immigrant stock and lower class, not feeling a gender kinship with them.
In addition to the issues surfaced by Lord Albert’s unsavory menacing of Valeria, the playwright applies the results of her diligent research to integrate other complexities of the time period into the plot. It turns out that much of the dark side of that day applies to this day as well.
In this case, two women die violently, one being murdered and the other dying from an explosion. Both incidents are attributed to anarchists. But one of the revelations from the play is that the activities of Special Branch, comprised of government counter-terrorism agents, included perpetration of violent acts that were intended to implicate anarchists. So, along with the detectives, the audience is left guessing whether these are false flag events.
Mysteries require clues, and one of the dead women had left a box of three items with a note indicating that the clues derive from what is missing from each item in the box. The conceit is clever, but it’s unclear why the deceased would have used such a device. Audience members are unlikely to solve the puzzle unless they possess very specific knowledge.
“Accused!” is full of clever dialog, and Kimberly Ridgeway’s directing uses the stage space well and keeps up the pace. Overall, the acting is first rate. While the sisters are all well portrayed, the lesser characters who have more schtick steal the show as would be expected. In all three Victorian Ladies installments, Alan Coyne acts in wildly different multiple roles. This time he is not only the pompous and bullying Lord Albert but a laughable non-English-speaking Frenchman and a sexist lower-class fake deacon from the Church of Sacred Sinew! That’s the incomprehensible intersection of boxing and Jesus. Meanwhile, Sindu Singh plays the victim Alison Tinglepenny and effectively shifts affect and puts on a blue-collar Merseyside accent as Inspector Perkins.
While all of the individual elements impress, they don’t seem to have fully melded yet. Some tripping over lines and clumsy timing will be sorted out. The script is loaded with information and implications, but some points may need more clarity or emphasis to register properly.
Nonetheless, “Accused!” is a fun romp with familiar faces. While the playwright has said that this is the end of the line for the three intrepid woman detectives, let’s hope that she returns them to the stage for more episodes of mind twisting and fun.
“Accused!” written by Patricia Milton is a world premiere produced by Central Works and plays on its stage at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley, CA through August 11, 2024.