The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Dramatic Society Murder Mystery

Authors

Alvin Community College

Files

Description

Every drama group has experienced the horrors of what can go wrong on opening night, and the ladies of the F.A.H.E.T.G. Dramatic Society are no different, with the possible exception that almost everything that could happen does! The scenery collapses, cues are missed, lines forgotten, and the sound effects take on a strange note at times, as the ladies present their ambitious evening's entertainment with the cunning whodunit, "Murder At Checkmate Manor." And just in case the audience should get bored there's a Film and Fashion Show and Murder Mystery Quiz, complete with a Prize! The crunch comes in the denouement when the "murderer", about to be revealed, has to rush home to bandage up an injured daughter. But Mrs. Reece, doyenne of the group, rises above the slings and arrows of outrageous dramatics to save the situation and provide the final inventive twist.

Publication Date

Spring 1987

Document Type

Playbill

City

Alvin

Keywords

Walter Zerlin Jr., David McGillivray, comedy

Disciplines

Theatre and Performance Studies

Comments

Every drama group has experienced the horrors of what can go wrong on opening night, and the ladies of the Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society are no different, with the possible exception that almost everything that could happen does!

The scenery collapses, cues are missed, lines forgotten, and the sound effects take on a strange note at times, as the ladies present their ambitious evening's entertainment with the cunning whodunit, Murder At Checkmate Manor.

In mismatched costumes, the British ladies fumble everything from their lines to the props, managing along the way to leave out a few scenes (which they decide the audience doesn't really need to see anyway). Meanwhile the stage crew, despite regular prompting from the cast, misses lighting cues and throws in miscellaneous sound cues and effects apparently at random, while struggling to keep at least most of the set standing up, though not always right way up.

Recommended Citation

Alvin Community College, "The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Dramatic Society Murder Mystery" (1987). Season 1986-1987. 4.
https://archives.alvincollege.edu/productions_1986-1987/4