Criminals brings ‘the art of interrogation’ to the Panida Little Theater stage

By Reader Staff

The new play Criminals, presented by Sandpoint On-Stage, will bring audiences into a mystery that’s by turns tense and tricky and sometimes very funny, when it debuts with a five-show run Friday, Aug. 8-Saturday, Aug. 16 at the Panida Little Theater (300 N. First Ave., in downtown Sandpoint).

Criminals, written and directed by Teresa Pesce, is set in a sparse interrogation room, where three suspects are put in the hot seat for a grilling to close the gap between suspicion and certainty of guilt in an apparent murder.

First, there’s Emily — a widow who returns from shopping to find her husband’s skull smashed in, arousing both sympathy and suspicion among investigators.

Then there’s Ponzo, the charming and glib mafioso who detectives suspect of double murder, but whose girlfriend’s embarrassing alibis complicate things for the detectives while a top defense attorney dismantles their interrogation. 

Finally, there’s slippery Frytz Caplan, who’s so hard to handle that it’s possible he might walk free and the team will lose their jobs. 

Billed as “a suspenseful comedy/drama for mature audiences,” the two-hour play is suitable for theatergoers 15 and older, and will hit the stage Friday, Aug. 8 and Saturday, Aug. 9 at 7:30 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Aug. 10. 

Both shows Friday, Aug. 15 and Saturday, Aug. 16 start at 7:30 p.m. Doors open one hour before every performance.

Tickets are $27 (including fees), and available at the door or panida.org.