Anthony Shaffer’s “Sleuth” has one of the neatest dedications in the detective story-writing biz: “To: Father Brown … Lord Peter Wimsey, Monsieur Hercule Poirot and all their omniscient, eccentric, amateur gentlemen colleagues, this play is dedicated with sincere regard and affection.” More than half a dozen other detective heroes fall within the ellipsis, all of them fictitious characters rather than their check-cashing authors. And that indeed seems to be where Shaffer’s heart and loyalty lie — with these impossibly clever solvers of crime, rather than their plot-making progenitors. (Though with Shaffer, there’s irony and misdirection lurking ’round every corner, even in a dedication.)

Though Shaffer’s 1970 hit play “Sleuth,” now at Little Theatre of Virginia Beach, has never been quite so revered as Shaffer’s twin brother Peter Shaffer’s megahits “Equus” and “Amadeus,” “Sleuth” has made quite a name for itself on stage and on celluloid, the latter film version starring Sir Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine and directed by Joseph Mankiewicz. It’s one of those plays/films that can easily lead to the disbarment (or worse) of reckless critics who reveal too much plot to their readers. So here is all that I dare, in good conscience, to tell you about LTVB’s production.

It’s directed by Marc Dyer, a retired Green Run High School drama teacher, who also designed its sumptuous (especially for community theater) set: a country gentleman’s library/study complete with an upper gallery walk, muntin windows, and lots of significant knickknacks, including board games galore, (eventually) exploding vases, and a full-size functioning mannequin of a creepy “Laughing Sailor” (aka Jolly Jack Tar). Credit goes to Lori Dunn and Michael McOsker for these essential and decorative props. The room is also embellished by two swell portraits showing the cocky lord of this manor, Andrew Wyke (Robin Chapman), stage right, and an unidentified beautiful woman, stage left.

Inhabiting this set at opening curtain is Andrew, swooning with self-satisfaction as he composes one of his own in a series of detective novels, starring a detecting dynamo named St. John Lord Merridew.

In “Sleuth,” Milo Tindle (played by Alan Mathews, left) is having an affair with the wife of Andrew Wyke (Robin Chapman, right). Wyke himself has his own designs. (Jason Kypros)

Dew tell.

Played by Chapman (who had first night line lapses aplenty but generally held his own), Andrew carries the play upon his tweedy, snooty shoulders. His wife (offstage) is giving him grief (and our plot’s premise) by having an affair with a younger man, one Milo Tindle (Alan Mathews), a character who soon arrives for a most eventful visit. Mathews, for his part, is coming off a successful run as second lead in LTVB’s summer hit “The Producers.” Here he steps up admirably again, though now he’s hindered by the need to use a British accent.

Now what is this young working (ugh!) man doing visiting a snooty writer in said author’s country estate? Well, that’s simple. He’s there to ask for the hand in marriage of Andrew’s wife.

Say what?

Yes, the first big surprise reveal of the plot is that Andrew’s wife, Marguerite (seemingly forever offstage), is having a showy affair with Milo, which would seem only fair (were it not for society’s double standard when it comes to philandering) since Andrew has a mistress of his own. She’s a Finnish “goddess” named Tēa who works — where else? — in a local sauna.

As Act 1 progresses, we’re made privy to Andrew’s surprising offer to his young rival to help enrich them both by stealing Marguerite’s well-insured jewelry. Milo, young fool that he is, rushes in to partake in Andrew’s proposed plot. Complications and then intermission ensue. I can say little more without losing my critic’s credentialing license.

But here’s the innocuous (i.e., tellable) point to be made in this uncharacteristically brief review. In the age of Prime Video, with BritBox and Acorn detectives primed to join you in your TV room, it’s difficult to impress with a now-aging British stage play such as “Sleuth,” which may come across as wordy and long to an audience spoiled by “Masterpiece Theatre”-style fare. You know who you are.

Some men like to play games in British country houses, and they do it well. But some such games involve risk and maybe danger for all involved, potentially even the audience, especially if they’re already somewhat sleep deprived.

Here’s one more bit of advice about this play: Trust no one and nothing, not even your own eyes and ears.

I can safely say that the late Shaffer is also the author of notable screenplays for Agatha Christie films “Death on the Nile” and “Evil Under the Sun,” Alfred Hitchcock’s “Frenzy” and the scary “The Wicker Man.”

Draw your own conclusions.

I dare say no more …

Page Laws is dean emerita of the Nusbaum Honors College at Norfolk State University. prlaws@aya.yale.edu

If you go

When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 5

Where: Little Theatre of Virginia Beach, 550 Barberton Drive, Virginia Beach

Tickets: Start at $25; discounts available

Details: ltvb.com, 757-428-9233

https://www.dailypress.com/2025/09/17/sleuth-virginia-beach/