Lenox — Drama, mystery, comedy, and great food will all share the spotlight for one unforgettable night at the Duffin Theater during “Murder on the Menu,” an interactive fundraising event supporting the Lenox Memorial Middle and High School drama department, on Saturday, January 31, at 6 p.m.
The Drama Club provides the following summary for the play:
The head of a lucrative family publishing business, Artemus Ward, falls face-first into his spaghetti supper with a knife in his back. Chaos ensues as everyone at the table becomes a suspect. Luckily, an overeager county coroner is dining nearby and ready to launch an investigation. Filled with suspicious motives and unexpected twists, it promises an evening of suspense and laughter.
The event will also include a pasta dinner and dessert for the audience. “This is an interactive event that will be a lot of fun,” Theater Director Ryan Bannen told The Berkshire Edge. “The audience will get to interact with the actors, and they will have a chance to try to solve who the murderer is. They will meet the suspects, and they will get to learn their potential motives, and they will get some clues.”
The play is divided into three acts, and there will be prizes for attendees who correctly guess who the murderer is.
The Drama Club is open to students in grades six through 12 at both schools.
“This is our first dinner theater performance, and if it’s successful, we would like to continue it,” Bannen said. “Personally, I have done dinner theater before. I started doing theater in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., just trying to pay the bills. It’s a lot of fun and a different style of theater. Learning about this type of theater will give them more skills that our students can use to pursue theater outside of high school. I also think that this is a good opportunity for the community to come into a different setting, meet our students, and enjoy a show.”
Bannen said the club also performs several Shakespeare shows and musicals throughout the year. “There will be a smaller cast because there are a lot of sports events going on at both schools, but they all have been working hard,” he said. “We have a cast of high schoolers that have been working very hard to learn their lines and bring all of these funny bits to life. We also have a fantastic crew that are helping out. I think that this performance will showcase the Drama Club really well, and I am excited for the community to come and see it.”
Admission for the event is $20. For more information and tickets, call (518) 567-4731 or email Bannen at rbannen@lenoxps.org.
