For the City Times

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Wisconsin Rapids Community Theatre (WRCT) will open its 2021-22 Mainstage Season on Oct. 8, with the comedy, “The Real Inspector Hound,” by Tom Stoppard and directed by Susan Edgren.

Feuding theatre critics, stuffy philandering Birdboot, and pompous second-string Moon are swept into the whodunit they are viewing.

“(The) play opens with a dead body on the floor. Two theatre critics have come to critique the play even though their own personal issues keep distracting them from doing just that. But is this a play or real life? Who is that dead guy, an actor in the show or someone else? Will new romances kindle or be extinguished? What kind of nonsense is going on at the card table and will someone please answer the dratted phone?!,” said Edgren.

“Tom Stoppard is one of the world’s most popular comic playwrights. His Shakespeareanesque use of the English language and his darkly absurd comic viewpoint have entertained millions of audiences with his plays and films for over 60 years. ‘The Real Inspector Hound’ is a small gem amongst a mountain of work, but it is a play that keeps coming back year after year.”

Performances will be held Oct. 8, 9, 14, 15, and 16 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 16 at 2 p.m. in the mainstage theatre at Wisconsin Rapids Community Theatre, located in the Centralia Center.

Ticket info can be found at www.wrctheatre.org/mainstage-productions, or by calling 715-421-0435.