DETECTIVE SAM SPADE (Chad Clevenger) sizes up a new client (Kerry Gudjohnsen as Brigid O’Shaughnessy) in “The Maltese Falcon,” a Butterfield 8 Theatre production at Cue Productions Live in Concord through March 9.
Judy Potter photos

BUTTERFIELD 8 THEATRE COMPANY OPENED “THE MALTESE FALCON” on Friday to a large and appreciative audience at the group’s downtown Concord venue, Cue Productions Live. Chad Clevenger leads an impressive cast in this 2007 stage adaptation by Helen Borgers, which closely follows the 1930 novel by Dashiell Hammett. The story ties together the lives of several intriguing characters as they each take great pains to obtain a certain dark statuette.

As the play opens, detective Sam Spade (Clevenger) receives a visit from a mysterious young woman (Kerry Gudjohnsen as Brigid O’Shaughnessy) who fears for the safety of her younger sister. Spade lets her know right away that it doesn’t matter to him whether he believes her story — as long as she pays, he’ll listen.

Gudjohnsen is plenty mysterious as Miss O’Shaughnessy, or the woman of many names. Gudjohnsen’s portrayal is a different kind of mysterious than one might expect, though. Her O’Shaughnessy is frail, nervous and unpredictable, but not overtly sultry or seductive. When Spade humiliates her at one point in the play, for example, she seems deflated but not passionately offended. Any romantic attraction between the two is greatly downplayed.

MAUREEN-THERESA WILLIAMS is Sam Spade’s secretary Effie.

Butterfield regular Maureen-Theresa Williams is convincingly nurturing and supportive as Effie, Spade’s office assistant and confidante. Williams is warm but fussy, with a genuine affection for her boss. Jeremy Cole is also terrifically entertaining as dandy Joel Cairo, one of several figures who come into play as the mystery unfolds. Also contributing to a generous pool of talent on the Butterfield stage is Jonathan Spencer as magnate Casper Gutman.

As a special treat, director John Butterfield employs soulful jazz singer Anita Colotto to provide live background music at key moments in several scenes. Unfortunately, though it would be exceptional to be treated to her beautiful music on its own, the fact that she sings directly behind the audience and simultaneously with the actors speaking on stage also makes it a bit of a distraction.

Butterfield production manager Kathleen MacKay deserves special kudos for creative and effective lighting design that helps set the classic detective-novel noir ambience with a variety of techniques, including a light box that provides intriguing shadows at the detective’s desktop.

“The Maltese Falcon” is a classic piece of detective fiction, and Borgers’s adaptation closely follows the text from the original novel. The Butterfield 8 troupe does an excellent job bringing the story to life. A lot of detail gets spelled out in the closing scenes, so it does bog down a bit toward the end, but the group’s accomplished actors keep up a brisk pace and succeed in bringing the performance to a satisfying end.

JOEL (Jeremy Cole) comforts his friend Wilmer (Julian Christopher Geritz) during a “planning” session.

I asked Williams, who is also co-artistic director of Butterfield 8, if she was aware of the Benicia Public Library’s current program, “One Book, One Community,” which happens to be promoting the “Maltese Falcon” — both the Hammett book and the film starring Humphrey Bogart — this month. Actually, it’s no coincidence.

“We were first made aware of the stage adaptation when the library contacted us. We had a previous relationship with the them. We performed ‘Pride and Prejudice’ there,” Williams explained.

The troupe’s photographer, Judy Potter, also lives in Benicia and is involved with other library programs, so she suggested the library contact Butterfield 8. They did some research and ultimately decided it was a good fit.

For more information about Benicia Public Library’s “One Book, One Community,” inspired by the “Big Read” program of the National Endowment for the Arts, contact the library at 707-746-4343.

If You Go
“The Maltese Falcon” continues at Cue Productions Live, 1835 Colfax St., Concord through March 9. Tickets are $10 to $15 and are available by calling 510-282-6174 or online at b8company.com.

Elizabeth Warnimont is a freelance writer specializing in the performing arts. She is also a substitute teacher for the Benicia Unified School District.

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