INTERRUPTION … The show director in the show, played by Emma Kurtz, interrupts the show to explain the family tree. Actors impatiently wait for the director to finish her explanation so they can get back to acting. (PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
The Archbold High School Drama Department presented “Murder’s In The Heir” this past weekend. The performance took place in the High School Auditorium on Saturday, November 11th at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, November 12th, at 2:30 p.m.
The play was created by Billy St. John and is under license by Pioneer Drama. The company describes the play where “almost every character in this hilarious mystery has the weapon, opportunity, and motive to commit the unseen murder.”
It’s even up to the audience to decide who the murderer is. Each of the heirs to the tyrannical billionaire Simon Starkweather has the means and the motive to do away with him.
Starkweather gathers his family and employees to announce the contents of his will. His lawyer, Lois van Zandt, reveals that he has bequeathed vast fortunes to his befuddled niece Fiona, her playboy son Jordan, his great-niece Paula (a Southern belle), and his grandson Simon III, as well as to his many servants. Then Lois delivers the bombshell!”
“Within hours this will become invalid”. Of course, the rejected heirs are not pleased, so it’s not surprising when they roam the old mansion carrying such items as an ax, a gun, and poison.
Predictably, the lights go out, and Simon is discovered murdered. Simon III (played by the same actor who plays the elderly Simon) is determined to find his grandfather’s killer, with the help of detective Mike Davis.
The play’s unique ending, utilizing secret ballots gathered at intermission from the audience, determines the killer in this Billy St. John maze of murder.
The performance put on by the Archbold students was absolutely fantastic. The scenes were conducted flawlessly, and the comedy was absolutely there. And with there being an opportunity for numerous endings with other possible lines to remember, the students did a wonderful job.
While this performance may now be over, you can see the Archbold High School’s Spring Musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, on March 22nd, 23rd, and 24th.
STAFF … Butler Bensonhurst (Bo King) and helper Rufus Jones (Tyler Wyse) discuss the coming evening.
COFFEE … Nurse Miss Withers (Jessalyn Petersen) scolds terminally ill Simon Starkweather III (Joshua Reeb) after helper Minerva Walker (Augusta Martin) asks him if he would like coffee and he nearly accepts.
