by Archie Wilson
What's It All About?
- A Murder Mystery for an acting company to perform to an audience
- The actors improvise the dialogue based on plot and character briefs provided by Lazy Bee Scripts
- A detective interrogates the suspects (who improvise their responses based on character briefs)
- The audience members question the cast
- The audience try to work out whodunnit
What Does Lazy Bee Scripts Provide?
Lazy Bee Scripts supplies a pack of material, including:-- An Overview for the Organiser, including
- Guidelines for preparing the mystery
- Guidelines for running the mystery
- Suggested timings
- A "narrative arc" for the mystery
- Key plot points
- Essential events
- Character Briefs for each character
- Character description
- Character history
- Motivation
- The Solution
- Explained by the detective
- Additional Materials
- Detective Sheets for the audience to submit their accusations
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 audience members are brought together for a fictitious 'special event'. A murder takes place, which the participants are invited to solve.
- In this case
- The audience are guests at Lord Barnett Prime's Christmas party. The cast mingles with the guests until Lord Prime arrives.
- The cast improvise through a series of prescribed events, leading to a murder.
- DCI Holmes arrives and interrogates the suspects, then opens the questioning to the audience. (The cast improvise answers from their character briefs.)
- The audience make their accusations before Holmes reveals Whodunnit.
- This Mystery Needs
- An 'acting company' of 11 people, including at least 4 men and 5 women
- One set comprising furniture
- Estimated run times (which may vary enormously!)
- Improvised elements: 40 minutes
- Audience interrogation: 35 minutes
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| Want to know more? Download the (pdf) Taster Pack |
What's the Mystery Here?
It's Christmas and Lord Barnett Prime is celebrating in his usual bombastic, obnoxious fashion with his family, servants and guests. Receiving Barnett's pointedly spiteful presents are:-
His wife, Isobel
Alexander Prime, their eldest son
Deidre, Alexander's wife
Lord Prime's daughter, Merrie
Delia Cummings, Merrie's partner
Jeramia Prime, Lord Prime's youngest son
Making matters go as smoothly as circumstances allow, there's Simons, the butler
And wiggling at the rear, there's Honey, Lord Prime's maid.
Things go exactly as Lord Prime intends, with the possible exception of the murder. Detective Chief Inspector Sherbert Holmes is brought in to investigate - with the help of the assembled guests.
There's also a Master of Ceremonies on hand to manage the event.