Suspense right in time for Halloween at Streator theater

As Nik Frig sees it, what’s behind the scenes fuels the imagination.

“There’s a lot going on that you can’t see,” said the Ottawa resident and director of “The Cat and the Canary,” the Community Players of Streator (also known as Engle Lane) stage production opening Thursday, Oct. 14.

The 99-year-old play takes place in a remote mansion, where family members gather for the reading of the will of wealthy Cyrus West — 20 years after his death.

What’s in the will puts the family members on edge in a house which contains secret passages and compartments. And there may be an escaped killer on the loose.

“I think it fits in perfectly,” Frig said.

For cast member Mark Fulkerson, of Varna, “The Cat and the Canary” was something new. The Streator native is used to performing in musicals.

“There are so many twists in this play,” he noted. “You don’t know who the bad guy is. It’s kind of a whodunit.”

Movie fans could be reminded of the 2019 film “Knives Out,” a mystery involving the family of a wealthy man who dies while they have gathered in his home. Starring Daniel Craig, Chris Evans and Jamie Lee Curtis,”Knives Out” has spawned a sequel that just finished filming in Greece.

PJ Olsen, of Ottawa, portrays Annabelle West, and said “The Cat and the Canary” reminds her both of “Knives Out” and the movie/board game “Clue.”

“It’s crazy people under one roof,” she said. Olsen frequently has acted in Engle Lane musicals, but decided to try drama this time around.

“Way out of my comfort zone and experience,” she said. However, “it’s been a lot of fun and I’ve learned a lot.”

Frig describes “The Cat and the Canary” as a horror comedy. The presence of a killer dials up the suspense, and pays off in a surprise ending.

“It did surprise me. It wasn’t what I expected,” Fulkerson said of the ending.

Frig hopes “The Cat and the Canary” audiences have a taste for suspense and horror.

“The bread is the comedy and you have the horror in the sandwich within,” Frig said.

Running Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 14 to 16, (curtain times 7:30 p.m.) as well as Sunday, Oct. 17 (curtain time 2 p.m.), “The Cat and the Canary” will be staged in the William C. Schiffbauer Center for the Performing Arts, 1012 Columbus Road, Streator.

General admission will be $10 at the door. To learn more, visit englelane.org.

Additional cast members include: Kathy Hepner, Jeff Houk, Brian Steep, Serena Armstrong, Sarah Jo Breyne, Dan McKenzie and Bob Philip.