Stage Left Players planning to present comical murder mystery

Audience members will be given clues to help them solve the mystery.
By L. CROW
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
October is often a silly, spooky time of the year for many people, and some area theaters are finding that this is a fun theme for fall plays. One group is Stage Left Players in Lisbon. They will present "The Haunting," a murder-mystery dinner theater that will open Oct. 15.
Director Kandy Cleland says this show is high comedy with outlandish characters, written by local playwright Eileen Moushey.
"Eileen has developed very fun characters that the actors can sink their teeth into," says Cleland. "They are all different stereotypes. The audience is introduced to the play by Alberto the Great. He is a phony psychic/seer, a con man, who is surprised when all these ghosts show up. But there is no cause for alarm. You can't really take a character too seriously when he goes around with a knife protruding from his chest."
All the characters are ghosts except for Alberto and his secretary, Jane Bryant.
Pre-wedding murder
The basic plot of the play is about a murder that took place before a wedding. The bride planned to jilt the groom and run off with Diamond Jack, a Southern riverboat gambler, but he got murdered. The play takes place at the turn of the century, and Cleland says there's a little of everything here.
Cleland says this will be a night of pure silliness, and wants to stress that there is a procedure to these murder mysteries.
"There is a convoluted plot, but the clues point to only one possible solution. The guests will go on a clue hunt at one point, and there will be helpers for people that may not be mobile. Clue hunting is done in groups, so no one is singled out or embarrassed. People need to come here with the idea that they are detectives, and the clues are dropped from the time they walk through the door," Cleland said.
In addition to directing, Cleland plays ghost Doc Rawson, the intended groom's mother, who is not too happy about his being jilted. Cleland has been involved with theater for 27 years and directing for 20 years, with a bachelor's degree in theater from KSU. She is also mentoring an assistant director, Randy Brammer.
Playwright Moushey, of Kent, has been writing murder mysteries for 20 years.
For more information on Moushey's mysteries, go to www.mysteriesbymoushey.com.