For those who like a little farce with their murder mystery, Brian March has just what the doctor ordered.
His original play, Dead Awake, is being produced by the Yellow Point Drama group this spring, and auditions are being held tomorrow. There are roles for three women and four men and some of the parts they will be looking to fill include an Italian opera singer, a British maid, a ballet dancer and a cosmetic surgeon.
“Luckily there is a lot of flexibility in the ages of the characters,” March said. “They could be anywhere from 20s to 60s, most of them.”
He added that the ability to perform with accents is helpful but not mandatory.
Dead Awake is set in a funeral parlor, during the wake of Samantha Pennington. Pennington was said to have recently died in a fire and was a great patron of the arts.
“The people who are closest to her have come to the wake and they include a couple of the people she sponsored to help their careers,” March explained. “What we learn through the course of the script is that she was murdered.”
What follows is a comedic romp leaving audiences guessing as a second murder occurs. Even the funeral director is not free from accusation as it is learned he is using coffins to run a drug smuggling ring.
Dead Awake was originally written as a murder mystery dinner theatre script, March said.
“It was so much fun working on it and with all the improv that was introduced to the characters in the course of dinner theatre, it was very easy to write into a script,” he said.
March said the group plans to have a fun level of audience participation during the production. Attendees will be given the opportunity during intermission to take a stab at who they think is the murderer, and how the foul deed was done. Prizes will be awarded to the winners.
Dead Awake auditions will be held Wednesday, November 23, at 7 p.m. at the Cedar Community Hall green room.
For more information, contact the play’s director Pamela Walker at 250-245-9155 or pwalkker@telus.net
