Three people in the Bruin family are making appearances in the PAC’s new production of Clue: Principal Tim Isaacs is Colonel Mustard, Biology teacher Jared Eaton is Mr. Green, and senior Gabby Butler is the Singing Telegram Girl. The play, a hilarious whodunit based on the 1985 movie, is being performed at the PAC on Jan. 19, 20, and 21. Tickets can be purchased at thepac.net. The PAC is offering a $5 discount for students with the code CLUE5, making the cheapest ticket only $6.
Isaacs, who manages Central by day and his performance by night, describes his character as “a military man who is kind of obtuse.” He has some lines that are confusing, because his character is slightly hard of hearing and is slow to understand.
“He’s rather clueless,” Isaacs said.
Balancing his highly involved responsibility as a principal and the play has been difficult for Isaacs, but he has begun to appreciate the opportunity for allowing him to be someone else for a while.
Even though he loves his job, he rarely gets a break from being a principal. However, “at the PAC, I [he] can turn all of that off.”
This is not the first time the Colonel Mustard actor has worked alongside another teacher or even a student. He likes being in productions with students because it presents a valuable lesson about code-switching.
“I’m Mr. Isaacs, but there [at rehearsal], we’re peers.”
There have been times that students have called him by his first name in shows, because they are “on the same footing,” and once those actors come back to Central, they must switch gears to show respect.
Eaton, who plays Mr. Green, appreciates when students call him by his first name at rehearsal. It allows him to forget his role as a teacher and transform himself into an ordinary thespian. Comedies are especially therapeutic for him because laughter releases his pent-up tension.
“Theater is a way to goof off, tell a good story, and make people laugh. That’s something I seek a lot.”
Butler, who has a smaller acting role, is involved in many of the technical aspects of the performance.
“Gabby is critical because she is involved in a lot of the transitions and ‘murders’,” Eaton said.
Butler is learning a lot from being on a cast full of more adept adult actors. She has also seen a completely different side of the two school faculty.
“It was honestly a great honor to be cast among them because they’re both amazing actors,” Butler said. “I didn’t know this before I got to see him perform but Isaacs is actually really, really funny onstage and off.“
All three actors are very excited for Central students to see the performance. Watching Eaton and Isaacs act like fools will be amusing to those who only know them as superiors. Each showing will give a slightly different flare to the movie-based play, and the final curtain call is one of the most hilarious parts, according to Butler.
“If you know Mr. Isaacs as a principal and you know me as a teacher, it can be very entertaining to watch us in a role like the ones we have here,” Eaton said. “I am the butt of a lot of jokes and he plays an incredibly dumb man.”
