For the past six weeks the Playhouse on Main has held rehearsals for Ken Ludwig’s murder mystery comedy, “Postmortem,” with show times running Nov. 9-18. This is the first time “Postmortem” has taken the stage of the Starkville Community Theatre, though SCT has performed Ludwig’s plays “Lend Me a Tenor” and “Moon Over Buffalo.”
The story is about a famous actor, manager and playwright, William Gillette, who strikingly resembles Sherlock Holmes, the character he plays most often. Someone is trying to kill Gillette, and he has reason to believe the killer is one of his guests he has invited over for the weekend at his pseudo-medieval castle he calls home. It’s not a coincidence that Gillette’s fianc‹¨e supposedly “committed suicide” exactly a year ago, so as entertainment he arranges a s‹¨ance, which he also hopes will reveal the murderer’s identity.
Known to cause some of the audience to jump, the sܬance is filled with surprising shots in the dark, deathbed letters, ghosts and bottles bashed over the head.
“The Starkville Community Theatre holds approximately 88 people,” director Paula Mabry, former theater teacher at Starkville High School, said. “Opening night was a sell out, as was Friday night.”
Mabry said the tryouts were conducted from a cold reading. The four females and three men who make up the cast consist of Thomas La Foe, an instructional technology specialist at the Mississippi State University library; Christopher Walrath, set designer and theatre graduate from University of Southern Mississippi; Scott Brinkley, 2006 graduate of MSU and last seen in Theatre MSU’s “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” on campus; MSU senior music education major Haley Agnew; Cherri Golden of Wildlife Services; Bonnie Oppenheimer, professor of math at Mississippi University for Women; and MJ Etua, a teacher at Louisville High School.
As part of this season at SCT, the first production was “Not Now, Darling.” The next show will be a musical, “A … My Name Will Always Be Alice.” The last show of the season is titled “Aspirins and Elephants.”
Others involved in the production of “Postmortem” include assistant director Gabe Smith and stage manager Marsha Williams. Edwin Ellis is in charge of both the lighting and sound, while Jansen Fair acts as the hair and makeup artist. Kris Lee and Amanda Clay Powers coordinated the props and costumes, and Pattye Archer decorated the set.
“The setting takes place in 1920 in Connecticut,” Mabry said. “Gillette’s castle in Connecticut is a state tourist attraction now.”
Gillette’s guests for the weekend include his current leading lady and her boyfriend, his arch enemy and his wife, along with Gillette’s acerbic sister. The last member of the cast, Louise Perradine, is hired by Gillette to conduct the s‹¨ance. She was once an actress 20 years before but is now a psychic medium. Gillette intends to perform his greatest role ever as a “real life” Sherlock Holmes as he attempts to solve the murder mystery in “Postmortem.”
Included in the Samuel French catalog: “The s‹¨ance is wonderfully eerie, revealing one guest’s closely-guarded secret and sending another into hysterics, another into a swoon, as Gillette puts all the pieces of the mystery together before the string of attempts on his life leads to a rousing melodramatic finale.”
For upcoming performances, reservations may be made by calling 323- 6855.