Murder to mystify Morinville theatre patrons

It’s not exactly Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, however a group of Morinville community actors have decided to put the funny in the secret agent game.

Organizers for the cancer fundraiser Relay for Life are mounting An Evening of Murder: Terminal Espionage on Saturday, March 29 at the Morinville Community Cultural Centre.

The whodunit is a fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society. Organizers hope to surpass the $2,000 generated from their 2012 production of Love and Marriage, and director Charlene Bouvier explained that 100 per cent of profits will be donated.

As part of a series of murder mystery party games aptly structured for dinner theatre, Terminal Espionage sets the stage for solving a murder. Each suspect has a hidden agenda and mysterious background. False and sometimes deadly clues are planted and the game is afoot.

“It’s dinner theatre at its best. You have great audience participation. Actors go around and you can ask questions. We mingle a lot with our audience,” says Bouvier.

The crime scene is a secluded luxury hotel in the fictional Nocktavia. Billionaire Joseph Lawrence is hosting one of his infamous, dripping-in-money birthday parties. Despite the tight security, eight spies from different countries infiltrate the festivities.

The ballroom has been turned into a night of enchantment. The music plays softly when suddenly a blood-chilling scream is heard. Guests dash out to the balcony only to find the birthday boy strangled.

There are eight stereotypical suspects. Natasha Kozlov (Bouvier) is a secret agent posing as a singer. Will this be her final encore?

Fritz Vaughn Heusen (Lonnie Jason) is the bartender with a secret recipe. Is murder one of the ingredients?

Alexandra Winfield (Shantelle McDermid) is a highly erotic woman and possibly a double agent.

Jenna Curran (Kerry Kiers) is the French maid. Would she stoop to serving murder?

Ivan Tolstoy (Ryan Kiers) is the suspicious security guard with a license to kill, and Angelo Decca (Joe Klement) is the gigolo with expertise as an undercover operative.

Jessica Collins (Joan-Marie Galat) is the grieving fiancée, and lastly, Simon Rickman (Sean Farand) is a computer whiz capable of crashing complex systems.

The murder mystery’s three acts are interspersed with a three-course meal that includes a kale salad, beef tenderloins and a dessert titled Crime BrûlĂ©e.

“The actors mingle with the audience and you can ask questions and try to guess who the murderer is,” Bouvier said.

Unlike most plays in which actors learn lines over a long period of time, Terminal Espionage is primarily improvised.

“You have to have a good sense of humour and a quick wit. Some actors find it hard, but the actors I have are awesome,” Bouvier said.

Harpist Galen Noland, a nominee for the Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts Awards, will play the soothing instrument music before the play starts.

Bouvier simply asks that the audience put on their deerstalker caps for an evening of deduction and lots of laughter.

“It’s never the same two nights in a row, and people get right into it.”