The Real Inspector Hound, by Tom Stoppard, the acclaimed Czech-born British playwright, can now be seen at the Very Little Theatre’s intimate Stage Left. The prolific author, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, has earned so many Tony, Olivier and Academy Awards that his display shelves are probably in danger of collapsing.

This short play, which first appeared in London in 1968, is a satire of The Mousetrap, Agatha Christie’s drawing room murder mystery. Since The Mousetrap was the first play of this season at the VLT, Daniel Squire chose to direct The Real Inspector Hound to give the audience a taste of Stoppard’s satiric version. In addition, the VLT’s No Script Society creates a brief improvised curtain raiser devised as a murder-mystery. 

Stoppard, who started his career almost simultaneously as a young playwright and theater critic, gives us a play within a play. We meet a couple of critics watching a whodunit from their theater seats, while intermittently complaining about their bosses and pontificating about the play.  

The characters in the murder mystery are supposed to be completely immersed in the setting of the action, a remote mansion on a foggy moor. The actors, however, sometimes can’t help breaking character and they begin talking to the critics. 

We learn early on that the critic named Birdboot (David Smith) has been having a fling with the ingénue who plays Felicity in the whodunit. As acted by Olivia Zejac, Felicity flounces around in her alluring tennis outfit, hoping for a good review from Birdboot. Within the context of the play, a rich young character named Simon is the object of her desire. 

Stoppard wrote the other critic, named Moon, as a man, but the director fortuitously cast this character as a woman, well played by Davida Bloom. There’s no reason why all the critics have to be men. We women have plenty of opinions, and Moon seems to be the most intelligent, realistic character in the production. She certainly doesn’t believe slimy Birdboot when he denies his affair with Felicity and swears that he’s a happily married family man.

In addition to Moon and Felicity, two other female characters brighten the stage. It might even be said that Jen Ferro as Mrs. Drudge, the hired help, steals the show. Every time she appears you can’t help grinning at her strange Cockney accent and her lurching bent-over walk. Her overly detailed exposition at the beginning of each scene keeps us apprised of any murders we might have missed. In spite of her reports, both she and the other characters neglect to see that a corpse has been lying under the couch without attracting any attention for quite a while.

Eve James as Cynthia, the owner of the manor, adorned with long wavy hair and a sculpted evening gown, is as sexy and beautiful as Rita Hayworth or Maureen O’Hara. And besides good looks, she has excellent comic timing. Lee Vogt plays Inspector Hound, David Landon is Simon and David Beck is a ferocious Magnus in a dark bushy beard. 

This production is enjoyable but lightweight, which is partly due to the script. Over his lengthy career Stoppard has written dozens of plays, many of them richly inventive, compelling and hilarious. It’s hard for his lighter plays to stand up to works like Travesties, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Arcadia, Rock ’n’ Roll and Leopoldstadt, most of which have been performed in Eugene. As far as I’m concerned, it’s never too soon to revive them.The Real Inspector Hound is sold out at Very Little Theatre’s Stage Left, 2350 Hilyard Street,  through March 16, and VLT has added another performance for 7:30 pm Thursday, March 6; ticket information is through the VLT ticket office at 541-344-7751, or go to TheVLT.com.