Right upfront: The fun quirky reason to see THREE CAN KEEP A SECRET is that you, as a member of the audience, are given multiple choices to vote on how the story goes and what you get to watch unfold onstage. It’s a really neat concept, that works incredibly well. And I can only imagine all of the work it must have taken for the writer, actors, and director to create something that would end up being so in-the-moment and exciting.
But even ignoring the neat conceit, THREE CAN KEEP A SECRET is a great show. Sonny and Moose (Ryan Dylan Wargnier and Gregory Crafts) are visiting the home of movie producer Mason (Sean Faye), who quickly finds himself dead. However Mason is haunting us and allowing us to decide how things go as his corporeal form is hidden in one of two locations (your choice!). Soon, his wife (Heather Lynn Smith) comes unexpectedly back from Vegas with an out-of-control drunk friend (Courtney Sara Bell)!
The writing by Gregory Crafts is fast-paced with great twists. (A slight update on his initial run of this script in a former Fringe). The direction by Richard Piatt is sharp. And all of the actors knock it out of the park – the tone and pacing are spot-on. This is a really fun show. You can see more than once and it will be a completely new experience! (Ryan mentioned that he counted 26 or so ways the show could go based on his calculations. And with only a handful of performances in Fringe, you may want to book a full run. It’ll be worth it.
Very Highly Recommended
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Matt Ritchey holds a BFA in Acting from NYU’S Tisch School of the Arts, a Certificate in Shakespeare from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and is a graduate and former Associate Producer at Director’s Lab West.
His original play Blackboxing (writer/performer) won six awards at the 2019 Hollywood Fringe Festival including “Best Cabaret/Variety.” Recent directing credits include the sold-out hit Romeo and Juliet In Hell (writer/director) at Force of Nature Productions, which was nominated for four awards (including “Best Director”) at the 2019 LA Valley Theater Awards and Angel’s Flight (writer/director) which won “Best Cabaret/Variety” at the 2016 Hollywood Fringe Festival and a “Best Director” nomination by Rogue Shakespeare Company.
His mystery stage play Nevermore had its third production in Halloween of 2016, his screenplay Christmas Academy (with Michael Onofri) has been a Semi-Finalist in both the Fresh Voices and Stage 32 screenplay competitions, and The Arrangement (also with Michael Onofri) placed in the Finals of the Austin Film Festival screenplay competition. His film Poker Night (director) won “Best Comedy Short” at the Culver City Film Festival and was nominated for Connect Film Festival’s “Apollo Award” for “a compelling exploration of masculinity” in filmmaking.
He is a script consultant and the creator of STORYCRAFTING, a coaching and coverage service for writers in all mediums.
“I’m a Shakespeare fanatic, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is the greatest movie of all time, and if I can’t be on a Disney Cruise, I want to be on set. I’ve got a quick wit, a sharp mind, and corrective lenses.”
