The Play's the Thing / The Grey Lady

Father Gilbert Mysteries-Radio Theatre #6&7

by Paul McCusker, Dave Arnold

In this latest installment of the Father Gilbert Mysteries, intrigue abounds in The Play's the Thing and The Gray Lady. Father Gilbert must find out who's behind the suspicious "accidents" in The Play's the Thing. But everyone in the acting troupe seems to be a suspect! Two identical murders take place within two days on the Woodburton Army Base--and the suspects swear a ghost is responsible! Father Gilbert faces a dangerous conspiracy in The Gray Lady --or is there something truly supernatural at work? Two original Radio Theatre audio dramas with outstanding actors and cinema-quality sound design.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Supernatural, Audiobook

3 pages, Audio CD

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Paul McCusker is a writer of many different kinds of things. You may know him from Adventures In Odyssey and Focus On The Family Radio Theatre. Or the Father Gilbert Mysteries. Or the Augustine Institute audio dramas Brother Francis: The Barefoot Saint of Assisi and The Trials of Saint Patrick. Or plays like The First Church of Pete's Garage and Catacombs. Or C.S. Lewis projects like The Chronicles of Narnia audio dramas or The Annotated Screwtape Letters. Or the film Beyond The Mask. Or lots of other dramas, novels, scripts and lyrics. He simply can't make up his mind what he likes to write.

Reviews

[Allison Tebo]

My family (especially my sisters and I) gobbled up the Father Gilbert Mysteries for years - back when we would purchase each production when it came out on TAPE. (yes, that long ago).

Paul McCusker has a true talent for radio theater scripts, and these stories are no exception. Fascinating characters and engaging dialogue that is deep and hilarious by turns kept us riveted, no matter how many times we had listened to it. The cream on top? A perfect cast with absolutely scrumptious accents (I could listen to Father Gilbert's voice forever).

The Play's The Thing is my favorite Father Gilbert mystery. I've always been partial to stories centered around the theater. It's almost the most lighthearted of the Father Gilbert mysteries, if you're a more sensitive reader or listener.

The Grey Lady gave me the absolute horrors when I first listened to it and it will never be my favorite, but it is definitely a chilling and nail-biting episode and, if you like supernatural fiction, this could be the very thing you're looking for.

[Rebecca]

Father Gilbert, former policeman turned Anglican priest, solves two more mysteries. In 'The Play's the Thing,' a travelling theatre troupe comes to the Stonebridge Fair. The Fair is supposedly cursed, and soon things start going wrong--is it the curse, or is someone really in danger of being murdered? In 'The Grey Lady,' the murder is not in question--whether the murder was committed by a ghost, however, is.

I enjoyed these full-cast radio plays of modern mysteries in the traditional style. Both were well done and atmospheric, and the mysteries weren't bad either.

I did find it somewhat amusing that the production came from 'Focus on the Family,' which as far as I know focuses on wholesome family entertainment free from any hint of homosexuality or any other dubious lifestyle. Apparently gruesome murder, drug abuse, drunkeness, child abandonment, military cover-ups, and communing with Satan are still on the table, though. Nice to see these true family values being so carefully preserved. :-)

[Manette]

These are great and engaging. All of the actors do excellent voice work.

The Grey Lady:
This story is a murder suicide mystery on a military base. It deals with the paranormal. Really could be shelved under horror. It was by far my least favorite from the series.

The Play’s the Thing:
This mystery involves the local theatre and actors. What I liked in particular about this one is we begin to know a little more about Father Gilbert himself. You meet some of his family. This develops Father Gilbert as a character making him more real.

[Hobbes]

Once again brilliant drama series! One of my favorites to listen to from time to time! Tough topics that are not suitable for all listeners, but 15+ good conversations can come out of it.

[Cathy]

We listened to these mysteries as a family. They have been wonderful for something we could do as a family on long, monotonous drives. They are done by Focus on the Family, the same group that's done "Adventures in Odyssey" and the C.S. Lewis "Narnia" series we've enjoyed on prior long car rides in the past.

"The Play's the Thing" was enjoyable for all, including one child as young as 9.

However, "The Grey Lady" came with a warning not for children under the age of 14. Since we had done three other Father Gilbert mysteries, we went ahead with this one, but the 13 year old and the youngest child, now 10, were both frightened by it. The 13 y o, although frightened, kept reassuring the younger child it was just a story. Bedtime was a little hard, but I think we might be past that hurdle.

As a grownup, I have enjoyed all the Father Gilbert mysteries.

SPOILER - "The Grey Lady" involved the supernatural.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library)]

I'm rather new to "radio theatre," but these two mysteries were rather well-done and made for enjoyable listening. I would advise keeping anyone under fourteen years of age from listening to The Grey Lady, though; the themes and frightening climax are not for young children. Regardless, the stories, sound effects, voice work, etc., were all great, and having a largely British cast added a bit of charm.

[Rachel Sorce]

I love Father Gilbert Mysteries and these episodes are no exception. They keep you on the edge of your seat. I didn't want to stop listening. I wouldn't recommend these for kids under the age of 12 though, as some of the themes are a little intense. I applaud Radio Theatre for once again making an awesome audio series.

[Kiki]

I liked it, but I wasn't able to listen to the second story because I couldn't hear it through player, even though the volume was all the way up, it was just barely a whisper. I plan on listening to the other Father Gilbert audios.

[Clara (aka Kurara)]

More of a 3.5 stars.