DEKALB, ILL, July 4, 2022 – The queen of amateur sleuths arrives in DeKalb just in time to solve a peculiar murder at Stage Coach Players (SCP) production of one of Agatha Christie’s most famous stories, A Murder is Announced. The play is based on Christie’s 50th book and was written by Leslie Darbon. Opening on July 14, 2022 and running for two weekends, A Murder is Announced is being sponsored by Luxevo Vacations in Kingston and Bill White’s Car Hospital of DeKalb.
A Murder is Announced is a good old-fashioned murder-mystery which ends in a brilliantly conducted parlor game. It is directed by Mandi Sester. The story takes place in the house of Letitia Blacklock, called Little Paddocks where a murder is announced in the local paper to take place later that evening there. It causes curiosity as some members of the community come to call, wondering if a murder will truly take place. The guests include Mrs. Swettenham and her son, Edmund. And at the precise time suggested by the announcement, a stranger opens the door, the lights go off, a gunshot is heard and when they come back on, the stranger lies dead on the floor.
Enter Inspector Craddock and amateur sleuth, Miss Marple, both with plans to ferret out the guilty party. But whom? Sester said that drawing room mysteries, like A Murder is Announced, takes an average and intimate space and makes a wonderful puzzle out of it. And like all good drawing room mysteries, the murderer isn’t revealed until the end of the play.
“How is it that so much can happen and yet be concealed in plain sight in one room?,” she ponders. Adding, “The best part of it all is the audience comes along for the ride!”
The cast includes Mandy Westcott (Elf The Musical) as Miss Marple, Bernie Schuneman (Little Shop of Horrors) as Inspector Craddock, and Donna O’Hagan (Calendar Girls) as Letitia Blacklock. Rounding out the cast are Richard Christensen, Leigh Foulk, Luke Harmon, Susan Johnson, Korey Miller, Scott Montavon, Joleigh Reiss, Julia Woodward, Tasha Renae.
Westcott, who plays the amateur sleuth Miss Marple, exclaims that like many, she is a huge Agatha Christie fan because she writes stories with interesting cases and leaves clues along the way to help the reader and audience solve her mysteries. “Miss Marple is often classed as a busybody,” she said, “But she is full of life and loves a mystery. Her keen eye seldom misses a detail, and she has a great sense of humor too!”
“Agatha Christie is kind of a guilty pleasure type of reading or playgoing,” Schuneman said, adding, “She’s not your typical hard-boiled sleuth. It’s kind of like watching your grandma solve the mystery.
A Murder is Announced is a play that will keep its audiences guessing mused O’Hagan. She adds so many twists and turns to the plot. “It will be fun to hear all the guesses to, ‘whodunit’,” she said admitting to not being familiar with the story herself. “This is the first time I’ve read an Agatha Christie book and play!”
Performances for A Murder is Announced are July 14 – 16, 2022 and July 22 – 23, 2022 with a curtain time of 7:30 p.m. along with Sunday matinees on July 17 and July 24, 2022, with a curtain time of 2:00. Tickets are $15 each or $13 for seniors and children aged 13 and under. Tickets are currently on sale through the box office phone at 815-758-1940. To purchase tickets, visit our online website at www.stagecoachplayers.com. You can also call the SCP box office at 815-758-1940. The box office will open Sunday, July 10, 2022.
Thank you for being understanding as SCP navigates COVID-19 guidelines. For this production, masks are suggested but not required. If the state of Illinois guidelines change, our guidelines will change also. Thank you for helping us keep our patrons, cast and crew safe.
