Village Players collaborate with library on fundraiser play
By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
The Mukwonago Village Players and the Friends of the East Troy Lions Public Library have come together to put on a production of “Murder by the Book” as a fundraiser for the Friends organization.
The play will be at Ivan’s Backstage 2087 Division St., East Troy, for the next two weekends. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27, and Friday and Saturday, Oct. 3-4. There will be 2 p.m. matinees on Sundays, Sept. 28 and Oct. 5.
“The Friends approached me about doing something different to benefit the library; Director Mary Hubbard Nugent said. “Ivan’s was willing to let us use the Backstage space and it seemed like a really good collaboration.”
Nugent said the Friends helped with the selection of the play this time around for the theater group.
“We wanted one that was about reading,” Nugent said. “It’s a very clever show and very similar to Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” where they all go to an island and they begin to disappear.”
The play, from Pioneer Drama, has actors, playing actors, playing authors, Nugent said.
“It’s not a serious murder play,” she said. “We’re playing it for comedy, there’s a lot of humor in it.”
According to Pioneer Drama’s website, the play features The Raven Society as it holds its annual meeting to select the best mystery book of the year to win the coveted Smoking Gun Award. Because of the prestige of the prize, the membership in this sacred club is secret, even amongst themselves. Each member attends the three-day meeting, cut off from the rest of the world at the Dickens House, disguised as a famous author.
This year, Edgar Allan Poe introduces a dashing upstart, William Shakespeare, as a new member to replace the recently departed Jules Verne. Spouting poetry, Will instantly captures the hearts of Mary Shelley, Charlotte Bronte and Louisa Mae Alcott. But romance is interrupted when Poe reads a nasty bit of correspondence announcing that each member of the society will die.
Only mystery maven Agatha Christie takes the message seriously, but, alas, it’s too late. Emily Dickinson is the first to die, quickly followed by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
“I have a very experienced cast doing this they are more than good in their roles,” Nugent said. “They assume these personas and there are quotes and references to works they have done, they become their characters.
Nugent said the Friends and Village Players hope the play encourages people to go to the library and read, or reread, some of the classics. She said it moves fast and the audience will be seated at tables, cabaret style.
“The Friends will be raffling off a basket at each performance with mystery books and other things for good reading,” Nugent said. I’m really excited about the collaboration – the Friends, Ivan’s and the theater group all getting together to raise money and bring culture to the village is exciting.
We hope when people leave they are thinking ‘I have to get to the library and do some reading.’”
Cast members include: Pat Hitt, Mukwonago; Kevin Koehne, Mukwonago; John Gregoles, Lake Geneva; Dan Hansen, Elkhorn; Sheri Watkins, Mukwonago; Becky Tidberg, Elkhorn; Connie Gehl, Mukwonago; Sondra Gesselle, Walworth; Christine Danovich, Delavan; and Mina Miller, Mukwonago.
Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the East Troy Lions Public Library or Ivan’s on the Square. Seating is limited; advance purchases are recommended.
