A Dinner Theatre Murder Mystery
by Ian McCutcheon
 
What's it all about?
  • A murder mystery event in which the actors play a brief scripted scene, then the audience / guests review the evidence and solve the mystery!
  • Lazy Bee Scripts provides the opening script and evidence packs
  • The actors play the script, the audience reviews the evidence and accuses the suspects, then the actors play a final scene to reveal whodunnit.
 
What's does Lazy Bee Scripts provide?
Lazy Bee Scripts supplies a pack of material for the performing company including:-
  • An "Organiser's Overview" including general staging guidelines
  • The Opening Script
  • Final Script - the denouement! 
  • Additional materials
    • Accusation sheets (for the audience to supply their guesses for "who dunnit")
    • Four pieces of (written) evidence to be evaluated by the audience
 

What's a Dinner Theatre Murder Mystery?

In this case....

  • The acting company perform a scripted opening scene, at the end of which a murder is discovered
  • The cast are taken off to be questioned by the police and meanwhile the police's evidence is shared with the audience by means of a series of written briefs 
  • The audience try to spot the murderer
  • The acting company performs a final scripted scene in which the murderer is revealed
 
What's in this Mystery?

The actors play members of the Little Willey Players, who are meeting at Lorraine and Jack's house where the casting of their latest play will be announced.  They are:

Lorraine 'Lou' Dawe: The bossy, overbearing chairman of the society, and director of the next production.
Jack Dawe: Lorraine's long-suffering husband who runs the group's bar.
Alec Tricity: The aging 'star' of the group.
Russell Hobbs: The group's 'artistic consultant' (set builder!) and Alec's greatest fan.
Regina Grey: Known as 'Reggie Mental' - a drama queen.
Justin Thyme: The new male recruit, preening from his success in the last production.
Diane Knight: Justin's girlfriend, desperately hoping for a chance to act in the next production.

(There are two additional roles for the denouement.)

The planned course of the evening is interrupted when one of the company is found murdered...