MARK EATON, Justin Murphy and Michael Corcoran (WCP photo by Laura Lejuwaan).

By Thom deMartino/Orange County Tribune

Oh, what a tangled web, indeed.

Here in the oncoming the chill of the autumn months, it’s just the right time for the Westminster Community Playhouse to present their newest gripping whodunit, Agatha Christie’s “Spider’s Web”.

Directed by Jim Katapodis (and dedicated to the late Kip Hogan, a talented and much beloved member of the WCP family), “Web” weaves the tale of Clarissa Hailsham-Brown (Talia Abbene), who has recently moved into Copplestone Court, a country house in 1965 England with her husband, diplomat Henry Hailsham-Brown (J.D. Rinde) and her stepdaughter, Pippa (Jaclynne Tran).

Visiting with the family are Clarissa’s guardian, the good-natured Sir Rowland Delahaye (Eric Bergstrom), the gruff & temperamental local justice of the peace Hugo Birch (Michael Corcoran) and the handsome (and flirtatious) young Jeremy Warrender (Jack Reid). Clarissa interrupts Rowland and Hugo in the midst of a tasting of varieties of port, only to reveal that the varieties were all the same one.

She is, as it were, a bit of a fabulist – inventing stories and games to make her life more interesting. Playfully telling Jeremy how she likes people to be in love with her, she mischievously asks “if I murdered anybody, would you help?”

It seems the house was formerly owned by an antiques dealer, and many remnants still sit in the home: including a desk that, while left alone, Jeremy begins rifling through – that is, before he’s interrupted by the estate’s gardener, the rambunctious Mildred Peake (Mabel Schreffler).

As the butler Elgin (Sina Siassi) and his wife prepare to take the evening off and the three gentlemen leave for dinner at the nearby golfing club, an unwelcome guest arrives at Clarissa’s door – Pippa’s birth mother’s drug-dealing boyfriend, Oliver Costello (played by Jonny Strebe, in the November 17 performance). He claims that he and her mother want custody of the girl, but Clarissa suspects there are other, more devious motives at play. She throws him out with the assistance of Ms. Peake, but is left with a nebulous sense of unease.

Something’s lurking below the surface of these events on the estate – something that might prove more menacing than anything in Clarissa’s imagination… and it may well be murder.

Unquestionably the works of mystery writer Agatha Christie are both a popular draw and an engrossing theatrical experience when staged at the Westminster Community Playhouse, and “Spider’s Web” is no exception. It’s an immensely entertaining puzzle for the amateur sleuths in the audience to unravel, and just as you think you’ve worked it out, you’ll once again find yourself deceived.

Marvelous performances by the entire cast abound within this staging – Abbene’s portrayal of the playful Clarissa captivates, as well as the two later additions in the second act: Justin Murphy as the capable and determined Inspector Lord, and the amusing comic relief provided by Constable Jones, played by Mark Eaton. There are excellent showings too by Bergstrom & Corcoran as Sir Rowland and Hugo, and Schreffler’s brash and colorful Mildred is a delight. Many of the cast are newer additions to the WCP family, but you’d never know it from their solid and engrossing work in this production.

A mesmerizing enigma for the audience to riddle out, “Spider’s Web” invites the viewer to try their wits and work out who the real villain might be: and with the final performances at WCP this weekend, it’s time to put your inner detective to the test

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“Agatha Christie’s Spider’s Web”: Talia Abbene, Justin Murphy and Eric Bergstrom star in this classic mystery for all ages. Playing through Sunday, November 24 at the Westminster Community Playhouse, 7272 Maple St, Westminster. Ticketing information available online at http://www.wcpstage.com, or call (714) 893-8626.