They Never
See It Coming… A Murder Mystery Party Pack – By Steve Clark, David Lovesy and
Brian Two – Customer Taster
The team
behind the smash-hit ghost hunting show “Beyond Belief” gather to celebrate the
winning of several awards. But one of them is not entering into the spirit of
things…
About the full pack
The full pack should
provide everything you need to produce your very own murder mystery event. The
pack is intended to be used as a sit down meal where the principal characters
will act out a set of events and arguments to the assembled guests. Please
remember from the outset that this pack is intended for an improvised performance. There is no
script or set lines included for the cast to learn. Instead, your cast is
expected to use the information included in this pack, develop their ‘back stories’ further and, staying
completely in character throughout, improvise the action, dialogue and
arguments themselves. This means that your performers are less constrained and
restricted, can react and interact with the audience and guests at will and
should have a lot more fun!
The full
document includes:
*A Plot Overview
*General Staging Notes on how best
to plan and stage your Murder Mystery event
*Overview of the Characters (including
suggested costumes and ‘props’) Customer Taster here.
*An Appendix containing summary Character
Back Stories on each character. One in the Customer Taster
document here
The full pack gives the
accompanying Downloadable Resources pack of Adobe Acrobat. PDF image files allow you to produce additional
materials and resources that will help bring the event to life and enhance the plot.
These include:
*Printable Table Cards to list the key characters to assist the audience
*A promotional leaflet for season two of “Beyond
Belief”
*A book sleeve for Darren Black’s new expose book
*Printable ‘whodunit’ Solution Sheets for your guests to complete
You can feel free to
customize the details of the scenario. Names and titles of the characters are
more fixed if you choose to use the resources provided but should not cause any
problems for you. This murder mystery is a light hearted affair and is intended
to be as daft and silly as possible; a comic entertainment rather than a
serious Agatha Christie style detective story. The plot subject, the secret
pasts of the characters and the characters themselves are designed for laughs!
All five surviving characters have been given motives and reasons to commit
murder – including the investigator, Darren Black. It could have been any of
them that did the deed! As such there are no complicated or involved clues for
the audience to have to try and deduce or follow!
Plot Overview
Tonight cast and crew of
reality TV haunting investigation show “Beyond
Belief” are gathering to
celebrate their awards from the Fortean Times for “Best Paranormal Entertainment Show” and “Best Use of Night Vision
Goggles”. These awards (or “Ghoulies”) are the pinnacle of
televisual paranormal achievement.
Prominent guests include:
*Ivor Feeling – Nervous presenter of “Beyond Belief”.
*Fenella de Kay – Tyrannical producer of
the award-winning show
*Erika Flora – Show psychic that talks
with those beyond the veil.
*Garry Burke – Show researcher and
assistant to Fenella de Kay
*Cherry Chabona – The bubbly wannabe
whose haunted house helped to put the show on the map
*Darren Black – investigative journalist
whose column “Shades of Grey” exposes charlatans
“Beyond Belief” is an entertainment show very much in the mould of programs
like “Most Haunted.” Presenter Ivor Feeling takes psychic Erika Flora around various
reputedly haunted residences, where Erika tries to communicate with troubled
souls from beyond the veil. This show began as one of those “here today, gone tomorrow” shows –
with the shows only true value being the entertainment value of watching Ivor
melt down into panic every time anything vaguely spooky happens. And then the
team visited the home of Cherry Chabona…
It was there that the
team experienced and captured phenomena that could not easily be explained. The
hype and televising of this episode catapulted the show up the rankings list
and created a global brand. The show’s subsequent popularity has led to its
recognition and winning of two awards from the Fortean Times’ annual ceremony.
Fenella de Kay will stand
up at the guest’s table and thank everyone concerned with their help in making
the show what it is. There is a very self-congratulatory tone around the room –
but then Fenella drops her bombshell…
It has come to light that
the very episode that shot them all to fame was nothing but a tissue of lies
and trickery, cooked up by Cherry and the show’s researcher Gary Burke. Fenella
has no moral option other than to reveal
all immediately, which will undoubtedly mean the show’s immediate cancellation.
There is at least some good news, however, in that Fenella has been offered a
very lucrative Producer’s job in the United States
The assembled cast are
left in stunned shock – there are bitter arguments, and recriminations, not
least of which as Cherry’s date for the evening reveals himself to be none
other than Darren Black, investigative journalist and exposer of psychic frauds
and charlatans.
After the main course, someone is found dead – apparently from
heart failure with a look of terror on their face. Someone has been literally scared to death! Darren, as
investigative journalist, cannot help but start to pull at the strings to
unravel the mystery… Can the diners help Darren to work out whodunit?
General Staging Notes
Casting/Rehearsal
Your chosen performers
should be issued with a copy of this entire pack. You should hold as many
rehearsals as required depending on experience of performers (2 or 3
recommended). The first rehearsal should concentrate on reading through this
pack and getting a feel for how the event is structured and the role that each
character has to play in the plot. Before the second rehearsal the performers
should further prepare their back stories. We provide example stories in the
Appendix and you can use these or write new ones. As it is impossible to
rehearse the whole event without that all important audience to react to, you
should concentrate on cementing motives and the order and content of the arguments.
These can be rehearsed by the performers, more to prove they can improvise and
keep up a convincing performance than word for word content!
Facilities
required for the performers
The performers need a
separate private room for their use. They will use this prior to the event to
get changed and prepared and will use the room during the event where they can
exchange notes and discuss any change of tactics. The murder victim will also
use this room once deceased!
The performers will eat
at the same time as the audience. Food for the deceased victim can be brought
to the main table and then sent away (and taken to the private room!) for extra
comic effect.
Recommended
event format
The evening works best if
structured round a sit down meal. If the event is being staged in hotel this
may be a formal served multi-course meal, but if this was being staged in a
hall or private venue you could lay on a simpler meal or even a table buffet.
However guests should have a table to sit at to watch and enjoy the action.
Pre-dinner
drinks
Before moving to the seated
area, we recommend pre-dinner drinks. This gives an opportunity for the guests
to mingle and more importantly to meet the characters informally before the
action begins (see Meet and Greet below.)
Dining
area:
Top table: set for 6 places, used by the principal characters. Positioned
in a central location so that all the other guests can see the action. Ideally
a clear area in front of this table should be provided to give space for the
actors to perform freely.
Tables for the other guests: Depending on facilities and space it is recommended that the
tables are spaced to give room for the actors to move around and between them
and so be able to interact with the guests.
Although structured
around a meal, there is no predefined timing for the action and the courses. If
this is a restaurant based event then the serving staff should just be
instructed to serve the courses as normal and not wait for any events/action
(this saves upsetting the chef!)
As a broad
guide your event should run as follows:
8:00 pm Sit down and Fenella’s speech (Starters)
Since the event has a
supernatural theme, you could encourage the audience to come dressed for the occasion
in suitable costume to add to the atmosphere! The principal characters should
also be dressed for their roles.
Improvisation and
Performance
Improvisation
As already explained,
there is no set script for this Murder Mystery scenario. Your performers are expected
to improvise their dialogue, interactions and behavior based on their back
stories and knowledge of the plot and their interpersonal relationships. This
is not as daunting as it sound! Your performers need to get into character and
remain in character throughout. All conversation with guests should be as the
character they are playing.
You are bound to get some
comments about ‘who dies first?’, ‘are
you the murderer?’ at the start of the evening.
The trick is to act confused and surprised! What are they talking about? This
is a special occasion!
If guests start asking
questions that you don’t know the answer to then you can simply make excuses
and walk away or steer the conversation in a different direction.
You don’t have to admit
your feelings outright, but can hint at your relationships with the other characters,
making passing comments about your reaction to something to trigger a response
and a question. The most common difficulty is when someone slips up and gives
the wrong info from their back story (and guests will sometimes probe into your
‘past’ in depth).
Sometimes this is not of consequence but other times it could be important, a
date, a place or something that your character should know too. If when quizzed
you give the wrong corroborating account of events, this can lead to red
herrings as the guests think you are lying deliberately. Therefore, if
possible, you realize you have let slip something on the spur of the moment
that is nonsense, try and draw the other character(s) aside in time and tell
them the new story. And if you don’t have time to do so, and you get ‘caught’ out, make light of the situation
and play for a laugh; ‘Have we really been
married for 5 years and not 8, well it seemed like even longer to me…!’
You will find there is
plenty of opportunity to whisper in corners with the other performers (and when
out of the room) to check tactics, prompt actions and arguments (‘right, we need to reinforce our hatred of one another, let’s
go and have a fight in the middle of the room’). This is
often necessary to keep things on track!
The
Arguments
The arguments that are
used to move on the plot reveal motives and skeletons in the closet and the complexities
of the characters
interrelationships can be
split into two types:
Public: The confrontational/explosive challenge as one character rounds
on another to contest something that has been said or announced. These can be
very public and devoid of subtlety and a slanging match over the tables and
even across the room often develops. Once these start the guests will quickly
fall silent and pay attention.
Private: These are the types that build from a quiet conversation into a
row as things are said that should not be or revelations are made. These can be
more subtle. The characters start talking together, beside a table of guests
and get louder and more heated as things develop. Gradually the whole room is
drawn in to the conversation.
In general the arguments
only need to be staged once but if the venue is very large or there is a lot of
back ground noise from the guests you can stage the argument and then move to another
area of the room to continue the quarrel (repeating the salient points once
more).
Overview of the Characters
Ivor
Feeling
Male:
Playing page 40/50s -- A camp presenter at the end
of his career, Ivor has a terrible habit of screaming hysterically at the slightest
thing – much to the annoyance of all around him (especially Fenella). He has
never really reached the lofty heights he felt he deserved to when leaving
drama school. He was destined for stardom, but fell short. This leaves him with
a huge chip on his shoulder as he feels the show is beneath him, but is holding
on because it’s all he has left.
Fenella de
Kay
Female:
Playing age 30/40s – Machiavellian ambitious
go-getting executive, prepared to do anything to further her career. Manipulative
and two faced, and will happily lie to get her own way. This show is nothing
more than a stepping stone for her, and she finds it hard to conceal her
contempt for both the show and the team around her. She is prepared to use any
means available to her to get her own way, including flirting outrageously with
all and sundry.
Erika Flora
Female:
Playing age 40/50s – She is the show’s
Psychic co-host, working with Ivor on the televised investigations. She isn’t
really a psychic – at one time she had what she thought was a premonition, but
subsequently thinks she was only daydreaming. She now, however, has made a
career out of cold reading – always quite vague about the detail convincing
enough to dupe the vulnerable and hard-of-thinking. Much to her surprise,
following a covert visit from the governing body, she received a glowing OFFDEAD report.
Gary Burke
Male:
Playing age 25-30 – Much put-upon and
under valued member of the team. He is the show’s researcher, finding and
interviewing potential guests and locations for the show. Due to the nature of
his job his privy to all that goes on with the crew and cast. More so due to
his dalliances with… All the others think he is harmless enough – little do
they know he is plotting his own career… Gary Gary
Cherry
Chabona
Female:
Playing age 35-45s – A mother and Bed and
Breakfast owner desperate to escape the everyday drudge. She’s loud, blond and
brash – looking for her next fifteen minutes of fame. Having enjoyed the
limelight following her appearance on the show, she is now convinced she is of
star quality and is at the event tonight to get a commitment from the team to
produce a follow-up episode of what phenomena are going on at the original
haunt site.
Darren
Black
Male:
Playing age 30/40s – He has a column in the
Sunday papers called “Shades of Grey”, specializing in exposes of all things moonbeams and crystals.
He has a book deal pending and has spent the last year researching the world of
psychic charlatans. He is currently in a relationship with… -- but she doesn’t
know who he really is. He has come as ….’s date tonight.
In the full pack please
refer to Appendix A for more info on the characters, their likes and dislikes
and back stories.
Plot Narrative
Meet and
Greet
All the guests are
regular people, but the TV show’s demographic suggests that the fans and
groupies of the show would tend towards the New Age style of dress – maybe you
could encourage your attendees to dress as such! The key characters need to
introduce themselves and each other to the assembled guests before the event
really kicks of (see General Staging Notes above for how best to do this).
The characters should
arrive over the space of 15 minutes during this informal section. Recommended
order: Gary Burke first, paving the way for Fenella de Kay. Then Cherry Chabona
and Darren Black should arrive arm-in-arm (although Darren will just be
introduced as Daz initially as Cherry doesn’t know who he really is). Finally
Ivor Feeling and Erika Flora will enter to lavish applause from the rest of the
team.
They should introduce
themselves to the guests, and interact with one another. They can make
throwaway remarks about the other characters, sowing the seeds for any
mistrust, dislike and personal conflicts. It is important that during this
opening session the characters get to mingle and introduce themselves with all
the guests to ensure that everyone feels involved and gets a feel for what is
going on!
The guests should then be
invited to take their seats for the meal.
The Speech
Once seated and settled,
Fenella stands and welcomes everyone there tonight for their help and support
in getting “Beyond Belief” to the position that it holds today. The following points should
be covered in the speech:
*A welcome to the guests.
*A welcome to the guests.
*An introduction of the other principal characters for anyone who’s
missed them.
*How pleased she is to have won two prestigious awards from the Fortean
Times as part of their annual awards for the investigation of all things paranormal
(informally known as “The Ghoulies”), and the thrill it was to walk away from the event with a pair
of Ghoulies.
*It was a gamble on her part,
but the production company has decided to push forward with the three-year
contract she signed up to in order for the show to be made in the first place.
This secures two further years of “Beyond
Belief!” on our screens.
There is a general celebration
amongst the special guests at this announcement, but Darren stands up and makes
a brief announcement of his own, and
others give some particular points…
The Murder
Arguments
before the murder
After these revelations,
the performers should feel free to move about and work the tables and not stay
sat the top table. The characters should mingle and engage in dialogue with the
other guests, expressing their amazement and reaction.
While this is going on,
there should be some predefined arguments/heated discussions should take place (suggested in the full pack). This can
be done at the top table, in the area in front of the table or anywhere around
the room (if the venue is very large then the arguments can be held twice or
more at different points around the room if necessary.)
Darren Black is furious with… With the press releases going public from
Monday, it makes his entire book effectively redundant. The book’s revelations
will all be second hand by the time it is launched. Why must … … … now?
Gary Burke is stunned. Yes, there was indeed fraud perpetuated in that episode
of Beyond Belief but it was orchestrated between … … …. He feels hurt and
betrayed, particularly as … … … have been having a sexual relationship for
quite some time. Why is he not coming across to the USA
Ivor Feeling was finally getting to be somebody and now it looks like his
series is being ripped from him. Even though he is not being accused of foul
play, the mud sticks. He’s never gotten on with … anyway and this is the icing
on the cake.
Erika Flora is well aware she has no real psychic abilities. Without her “Beyond Belief” anchor she is going to
be reduced to … etc…
Cherry Chabona was relying on … and … etc.
… further details in the full pack
If your venue permits and
you can manage it without causing consternation with the guests (!), if
possible someone should trip the fuses to the lights – just for a few seconds.
The wider the trip the better, to cover the bar and other locations the
audience might have strayed to, but even just the room lights where the guests
are eating will do! This will need to be done by a member of staff/someone else
in the know.
The other characters
should all return commenting on the brief blackout, … All the characters should
react with horror and shock at the murder (of course!) Who could have done
this?
The Further
Revelations
Even after … … there are
further revelations to be made. Whether in argument form or gossip for going
around the tables, the following information should also be imparted…
*There is bound to be much speculation about the cause of death –
can someone actually be scared to death? ...was found with … … a table lamp…
with some subtle hints, someone in the audience may suggest that … was …. If no
one does, then one of the actors should. All have the necessary knowledge of … …
but who had the motive and actually did it?
Darren has had …
Ivor has always hated …
Fenelle …
Motives for murder
Everyone had a motive:
All also have method – a knowledge or past connection with electrics (which
will have been dropped into conversation). These are disclosed in the full
pack.
Who Dunnit?
The audience are asked to
assist with identifying the murderer… to save time and effort for the Police
when they finally arrive! Solution forms (and pens) are distributed to the guests
and the performers retire to their room to give the guests time to complete
their forms. After giving the guests 10 minutes or so to make their deductions,
the forms are collected and the characters in the privacy of their room select
the winner and the booby prize!
Denouement
and Prize Giving
The surviving characters
return to the dining area. A summary of the events of the night is repeated and
the real murderer is invited to step forward from the line up (you can milk
this for tension and laughs by all characters twitching and almost stepping
forward.)
… is the murderer. … will
explain the motives to the audience. … Good riddance! The dead are invited to
return and … joins the other characters (… brings the prizes when … comes).
The chosen winner is announced
(and the solution they gave read out) and a prize awarded. (A bottle of
wine/champagne.) The booby prize is announced (and the solution they gave read
out) and a prize awarded (a silly theme related gift.) If there were a number
of amusing sleuthing answers you can read out a shortlist of howlers. The
audience is thanked for their sleuthing skills. The cast takes a bow and a get
a rousing round of applause!
Appendix A – Detailed Character
back stories
Full details in the Full
Pack
Your performers can use
these as the basis for their stories. Feel free to embellish, modify and
personalize! Your performers should learn these, both their own and each
others. In particular they should be familiar with information that they would
know about the other characters.
Please note: each have a
more than basic understanding of … and so each could have rigged the table lamp
to … .... This is explained as a note in their back stories and it is up to the
actors to drop that into conversation with the audience to drop hints/red
herrings.
Customer
Taster Sample
Ivor
Feeling
Ivor’s home is a small
cottage at the foot of Snowdon in north Wales
Knowledge: In the mid Eighties, Ivor hosted a very short running kids show
called ‘…’. Each show kids would be set … challenges. Not only was it dreadful,
but after an accidental … that nearly killed the teenager, the show was canned
mid first series.
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