North Gem gets to the bottom of a mystery
An energetic and hilarious cast brought the (hilarious) murder to Bancroft.
The spring drama production at North Gem ended its run on Saturday, after a large number of entertaining murders took place in the auditorium to the delight of audiences.
“Next Victim, Please” is a comedy murder mystery set at Murdock Manor, where the wealthy and eccentric Colonel Murdock (played by John Roberts) gathers his greedy relatives to hear the reading of his will. Everyone expects to inherit part of his fortune, but chaos erupts when family members begin dying one by one in increasingly ridiculous ways, none of which are especially well thought out.
As the Colonel repeatedly changes who will inherit the estate, each newly favored heir quickly becomes the “next victim.” The suspects include arrogant relatives, suspicious servants, and assorted oddball guests, all played with relish and some infectious accents. A detective who always has the time for a crime arrives to investigate, but the murders continue in exaggerated, slapstick fashion.
Since the play is over and it can’t fairly be called a spoiler at this point, I can tell you that it is revealed that the seemingly loyal butler Higgins (Brandon Lee) is behind the killings in hopes of inheriting the fortune himself. However, the maid Fifi (Kymberli Jensen) turns out to be an undercover detective and arrests him after the final attempted murder.
As the play progressed, the number of actors per scene declined apace.
The play is intentionally over-the-top and satirical, parodying classic whodunits with exaggerated characters, comic timing, and nonstop twists.
Clever use of blackouts and silhouette/pantomime work added a fun dimension to the scene to scene transitions, and made the play zip along until before you know it, you knew who done it.
Conner Moody ran the stage work, and Haydn Frandsen ran the lights and sound.
The cast not named above included Sophia Odell as Susan, Madalyn Barnes as Clifford, Bailey Perkins as Rebecca, Jaxyn Welker as Lawrence, Sadie Daniels as Beatrice, Zoey Wilson as the detective, Anna Rose as Penelope, Mariah O’Brien as Priscilla, Jack Curtis as Herbert, Kailin Jenkins as Priscilla and Kid 2, Landon Hayes as Kid 1, and Ian Moody as Kid 2.
The play was directed with a lot of energy by Minnarett Goff. Several birthdays were celebrated during the performances, including everyone’s favorite postal worker.
While the detective may have the "time for crime," she maybe didn't have the foresight to avoid it.
