Breaking the fourth wall is risky business, but Torrey Theatre Club’s fall play makes the reward well worth the risk.

“The Real Inspector Hound” keeps the audience on the edge of its seat throughout the production not because it has the gravity of a true thriller or the genius of a Shakespearean comedy, but because it is satisfied with what it is: an absolutely unique, 80-minute joyride of a murder mystery filled with satire and irony and tempered by carefully planned melodrama.

The show draws the audience in from the very first minute, but in a very unorthodox manner—the viewer will begin to wonder what is going on, only to have the exact same concerns voiced by two characters shortly thereafter. Moon and Birdboot, played by senior Jonathan Wright and sophomore Anthony Kemp respectively, take in the production on a somewhat equal plane to that of the audience, only to shatter the tenuous bond they build with the crowd later in the show. How this happens is nothing short of ingenious, although some may find it downright mystifying. Kemp’s withering criticism is rightfully harnessed by Wright’s ridiculous enjoyment of both himself and the play, and the audience is compelled to question its own impressions from the very beginning.

The trick to enjoying this show is not to spend time mulling over plot developments long after the fact, but to absorb the experience as a whole. Along with some of the characters, the viewer will be surprised by just how much they will remember about the early stages of the plot later on in the production.

While the show is riddled with innuendo and satire (both of which it unrepentantly admits to), it gleefully offsets these elements with the melodramatic action in Muldoon Manor. Simon, played by sophomore Cameron Dalke, is a smooth-talking houseguest that might also be an intruder, in more ways than one. His defensive mannerisms amidst the delightful verbal attacks of Felicity and Cynthia, played by sophomore Chelsea Nygaard and junior Adria Murphy respectively, give the audience a reason to laugh alongside the farcically ominous warnings of a murderer on the loose.

Because the audience is so directly invested in the play (due mainly to the superlative acting of Wright and Kemp), it is refreshing to meet head-on with the gruff persona of junior Garrett Olson in the role of Major Magnus Muldoon. As a wheelchair-bound codger who mistrusts anything with two legs, Olson creaks around the stage with a truly hilarious presence that rivals only the self-congratulatory Birdboot for comedic impact.

While Mayers Auditorium will always have the dramatic aura of a cardboard box, the cast and the set overcome this obstacle with room to spare. Much is made of little, and even though a body lies on stage aside the oblivious actors for the majority of the play, one never gets the feeling that it is too close to be believably ignored.

In spatial as well as dramatic restrictions, “Inspector Hound” far exceeds the limits of what amateur theatre should normally necessitate. Big questions are asked, and bigger ones are mocked, but in the end the production forces the audience to acknowledge the victory “Hound” wins over the cynicism of the critic and the usual frivolity of hilarious comedy.

“The Real Inspector Hound” shows Sunday the 18th at 3 and 7 p.m. in Mayers Auditorium. General admission is $8 for the public and $6 for Students.