Dead Men Don't Get Dessert

A Murder Mystery Event

 
What's it all about?
  • A murder mystery event in which the actors mingle and interact with the audience / guests
  • Lazy Bee Scripts provides the scenario
  • The actors improvise the dialogue based on the scenario
 
What's does Lazy Bee Scripts provide?
Lazy Bee Scripts supplies a pack of material for the performing company including:-
  • A "narrative arc" for the murder, covering
    • Essential events
    • Essential plot points
    • The resolution!
  • A background brief for each character
    • Character description
    • Character history
    • Motivation
  • General staging guidelines
    • Recommendations for preparation
    • Guidelines for improvisation (and how to deal with awkward members of the audience!)
    • Preparing the venue for the event (making sure that the staff don't throw the actors out for bad behaviour!)
  • Audience "Detective Sheets"
    • So the audience can guess who-dunnit (and, possibly, win a prize)
  • Collateral material to make the "event" more realistic
    • Allows you to print table cards, business cards for PI Mike Slammer, and a series of newspaper headlines
 
Note that Lazy Bee Scripts does not provide a script for the dialogue. Because the actors are interacting with the audience, it is not possible to stick to a fixed script, instead the actors improvise dialogue based on the "narrative arc."
 

What's a Murder Mystery Event?

  • The scenario is run as if the audience has been brought together for a special occasion
  • In this case
    • It's Chicago, 1929.  The event is a dinner called to mark the formation of a gangsters' syndicate
    • The performers will be dressed accordingly and there is scope for the audience to dress in appropriate themed costumes to add to the atmosphere.
    • As the actors progress with the evening, further revelations send the event spinning out of control until one of the characters is found murdered...
 
What's in this Scenario?
Chicago 1929. It's the night that the four leading gangsters in the city are going to form a crime syndicate. Gangster supremo Sal Capone has put on a dinner - at the end of which signatures will go onto a contract which will bind the mobsters together and create an impenetrable crime ring which will bring Chicago to its knees, smash the competition and drive off the Feds. Other prominent guests include:-

Dolores Van Harl – Sal Capone’s moll.
‘English’ Langham – A British hoodlum who runs the city’s gambling dens
Mickey ‘The Boy’ Malloy – One of the city’s leading booze smugglers.
Mrs Brown – Chicago’s leading female hit ‘man’.
Janice ‘Legs’ Parker – Cousin of the infamous Bonnie Parker.

As Capone gives his opening speech the evening is interrupted by Mike Slammer, a gumshoe who has been a thorn in the side of each and every mobster over recent years.  He announces that he's come to unmask a traitor in their midst, and is invited to join the dinner.  Unfortunately for Slammer, that turns out to be a mistake, as the traitor gets to him first...
 
What do I need to Buy?
Lazy Bee Scripts charges two fees:-
  • A flat fee of £20 for the murder mystery scenario pack
    • Downloadable from the Internet as a Zip file
    • Containing master files (in .doc and .pdf formats) of all the essential materials
    • Can be used multiple times by your acting company (but you must pay the performance fee for each performance)
  • A fee of £20 for each performance of the scenario (regardless of the "audience" size)
 
In the pack, in addition to the scenario...
Dead Men Don't Get Dessert - materials