Issue 45
Write Your Own Murder Mystery

Welcome!

How do you put together a student written murder mystery dinner theatre fundraiser (say that three times fast!) without losing your mind?

In This Issue

• INTRODUCTION
  So you want to write a murder mystery...
• THE SETTING
  Where is everyone gathered?
• THE THEME
  Why are they gathered?
• THE CHARACTERS
  Who is gathered?
• THE CRIME
  Who did it and why?
• THE STRUCTURE
  How do you put the pieces together?
• THE CLUES
  How do we figure out who did it?
• THE LOGISTICS
  Menu, location, budget, length and making money.
• THE PERFORMANCE
  Put it all together!
• STAY CONNECTED
  Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
• FREE RESOURCES
  Some amazing (and free!) resources for drama teachers.
• CONFERENCE ALERT
  Meet us in person.
• IN THE NEXT ISSUE
  What you can expect next.
• STAY IN TOUCH
  How to reach us.

Introduction

It sounded logical at the time. A student-written murder mystery that your theatre class, or Thespian troupe, or drama club would use as a fundraiser AND why not make it dinner theatre? This newsletter came about when a teacher with this exact scenario came up to me at a conference with a wild-eyed 'Help!'

It's potentially a great idea: the murder mystery part is an excellent student-driven project which can even be incorporated into classwork. The project has the opportunity to be very budget-friendly: If it's student-written there aren't royalties to worry about and you can craft it to your own resource pool (actors/props /costumes/sets). Further, if you offer dinner, you can charge more!

But the pitfalls are many. How much do you charge? How do you get your community to attend? Do you have an advertising plan? Will such an event work in your school cafeteria? What kind of meal do you offer? Is it a buffet, sit down or just snacks? How much will the meal cost? Who's going to serve? And what happens if your murder mystery is lacking in mystery? What if your students can't work together? The project could easily end up costing more than it makes in time, money and creative energy.

It takes a team effort to put together a the murder mystery dinner theatre fundraiser. But it is doable and it can be quite a rewarding experience. Once your students have done it properly once, you'll have the tools in place to make it an ongoing success!

This newsletter offers steps to take for a student-written murder mystery, and the logistics of making it a dinner theatre fundraiser.

The Setting

Environment is everything. An extra-special locale adds to the experience. The audience must feel part of the experience.

That's why combining murder mysteries with dinner theatre works so well – the added element of inclusion. The more included the audience feels, the more they will engage in the evening. Engagement is key in a murder mystery.

Your first step is to choose the setting. It's a good way to ease into the process, and will influence all future decisions regarding the mystery from the characters to the crime.

• Have a look at the list of settings below. Do any appeal?
• If this is your first murder mystery it might simplify the process for one person (the teacher) to choose the setting. Give the parameters within which students create.
• Give your students the task of cataloguing the props and costumes available to the group. What settings are suitable?
• If you want to brainstorm locales, be specific. If you're using the cafeteria for your dinner theatre, brainstorm on how can it be modified to fit a desired locale.

Setting List

• The Old West
• Pirate Cove
• A ballroom
• A Vaudeville Theatre
• A downtrodden hotel
• An upscale resort
• A rundown circus
• Backstage at a tv talkshow
• Backstage at a theatre
• A fancy restaurant
• A dive restaurant
• Victorian mansion
• Haunted mansion
• An art exhibit

Exercise

Divide the class into groups. What setting can groups come up with, using the following materials? Feel free to come up with your own! Make the materials as generic as possible - think outside the box!

• Two tablecloths
• A piece of shiny fabric 
• A piece of bristol board 
• A packet of markers
• A handful of glitter
• Three balloons
• White Christmas lights
• Five miscellaneous items from the dollar store

The Theme

You have your locale. What is the specific event that takes place there? Why has everyone come to this event? There must be a specific event which brings the characters together (like the reading of a will, an award ceremony). Give each character a public reason to be present as well as a private reason (which we'll talk about in the Character section).

Determining the event at this point is going to help establish who the characters are, and why they might be motivated to commit a crime.

Theme List

• Prom
• An award ceremony
• The opening night of an art exhibit
• The reading of a will
• An elaborate birthday party celebration
• Vintage Hollywood party (What about a Vintage Hollywood birthday party combo?)
• A cheapo wedding reception
• An art and antique auction to raise money for an individual or organization
• A gangster dinner party where the new lead gangster will be announced
• The after party of a movie opening
• A family reunion
• A restaurant celebrates their 'best restaurant in the city' ranking.
• An open house celebrating a new neighbour to the street.

Exercise

Work on this example as a class. What can you create based on the following setting and theme?

The setting is: the cafeteria, decorated for the annual graduating seniors banquet.

The theme is: an award ceremony.

The recipient is: the high school quarterback.

The award is: a humanitarian award.

Sample questions to ask students as they work:

1. What exactly is this particular humanitarian award and what does it entail (is it just a plaque? Is there money involved? Who got it last year)
2. Why is the quarterback getting an humanitarian award?
3. Does the quarterback deserve the award? (Explain your answer)
4. Who else was up for the award? (Think out of the sports realm!)
5. Come up with five specific characters who might attend this banquet.
6. Of these five, who is jealous of the quarterback?
7. Who loves the quarterback?
8. Who loathes the quarterback (can't be the same person who is jealous)
9. Who admires the quarterback?
10. Who has a secret on the quarterback. What is that secret?

The Characters

You have your setting. You have your theme. Now you need to flesh out the characters.

All murder mysteries have a victim, a detective/cop/investigator, and suspects. In general, and most commonly, the murder mystery character is over-the-top, a two-dimensional stereotype, and as broad as they come. And that's definitely part of the murder mystery genre. It's entertaining to play over-the-top, broad characters. This is no time for subtlety!

Having said that, the more three-dimensional the characters are, the easier they will be to write for, the easier it will be to create conflicts between characters (very important), and the more fun they will be to play. And it's always better script-wise to find inspiration, motivation and intrigue from the well-drawn character than a type. This way, in a moment of writer's block students will never be reduced to throwing in jokes or shocks just because it's time for something dramatic to happen.

This method is by no means an exercise in writing a serious, intense drama. But three-dimensional characters are unexpected characters. All humans do things against their nature, or against type. And the murder mystery thrives on the unexpected. That's how you keep the audience in the dark for a longer period of time.

Character types

The first step is to create a list of characters who would reasonably be in the chosen location and event.

Exercise

As a class, brainstorm a list of characters who would be at the Award Ceremony in the previous exercise.

Sample questions to ask:

1. What student types would be present? Come up with three.
2. What teacher types would be present? Come up with three.
3. What characters would be present who are not teachers or students? Come up with three.
4. Come up with one unexpected character.

Character Profile – Part One: Public Information

Once you have a general list of characters in place, assign each character to an actor. Then each actor creates a character profile, filling in the background details.

The character profile can encompass any number of details. Firstly, think of the simple details that make up any human being (name, age, family members, occupation) Keep the details realistic (no aliens in disguise) and appropriate to the setting and theme.

Exercise

As a class, look at the Award Ceremony character list and pick three characters. Create character profiles for these three characters and answer the following questions:

1. What is the character's full name?
2. How old are they?
3. What is their occupation, or grade in school?
4. What is the makeup of their family?
5. Where do they live? (city, suburb, farm, house, apartment, loft)
6. List favourite food, colour, television show.
7. List hated food, celebrity, sound.
8. Why are they at the award ceremony?
9. What is their relationship to the quarterback?

TIP! Ideally, you want no more than ten characters in your murder mystery. Otherwise there's too much for the audience to follow, and you definitely want the audience to get involved. That's half the fun. But what if you're using the murder mystery as a class project? Rarely will a drama class have only ten people in it! How does everyone participate?

Suggestion: Define the parameters of the mystery (setting, theme, crime) and then divide the class into three groups. Each group writes their own mystery using the same parameters. That's the only rule, each group must use the same setting, theme and crime – keep the consistency. Run the murder mystery for three nights and on the nights students are not performing, they will act as hosts and wait staff. This way everyone has a chance to participate. AND, you have a unique selling point: new cast every night! Every night is different!

Character Profile – Part Two: Private Information

Just as all human beings have information about them that is public, everyone keeps secrets. It could be a tiny secret such as a tough guy scared of spiders. It could be a huge secret such as the tough guy is being blackmailed by the dead guy.

Character secrets are an essential part of the process. The secrets that characters keep will be the twists and turns that build the core of your murder mystery. For example, every character needs to have secret motive to kill the victim. It doesn't mean they actually did it, but the more people who have motive, the more twists and turns!

Each character should have the following secrets:

• A secret reason for being at the event.
• A secret reason for wanting to kill the victim. (Remember, it doesn't mean they did, they just wanted to)
• A secret relationship with another character. (This does not have to be a romantic relationship! It could be one of blackmail, or some mysterious event that happened in the distant past.)
• What secret would they like to reveal during the event?
• What secret would they like to remain secret during the event?

The Crime

Now it's time to get down to the nitty gritty. The crime. Before you begin this section, make up a huge wall chart with all the information you know so far: the setting, the theme, every character, their motive and their secrets. This way all the pieces of the puzzle are in front of you.

Who is the Victim?

You have two choices when it comes to the victim. He/she can be part of the opening scene so that the audience is introduced to and had has a relationship with them. It's better for an audience to see the victim as a nasty vindictive lowlife, rather than be told about it second-hand.

On the other hand, if you want to start your evening off with a bang, if you want to things rolling the instant the audience sits down, you can't go wrong with having the murder happen right away.

How are they killed?

In class, brainstorm a list of possible kill methods. Make sure students hit all the possibilities from various ways poison could be used, different types of stabbing, blunt objects, strangulation, and so on.

Exercise:

In groups have students come up with the most creative, yet realistic method for using poison as the murder weapon. They must be able to describe how it's done, and it has to be believable!

What is the motive?

Motive: the goal of a person's actions. Something that causes a person to act in a certain way.

Motive answers the question, 'Who benefits if the victim ends up dead?' The motive can't be low-key in a murder mystery. The suspects can't sort of kind of dislike the victim. The motives have to be vivid, far-reaching and heartfelt. This is how you create a three-dimensional character who is over the top: the stronger the motive, the more intense the emotion.

Exercise:

In groups, brainstorm on the motives for murder. See which group can come up with the most. You could also have groups brainstorm on the motives for murder that stem from the Seven Deadly Sins.

Who is the killer?

While all the suspects in your murder mystery must have motive to kill the victim, the killer must be the only one with motive, opportunity, and ability. Who wanted to kill the victim, who was there, and who was able to perform the deed?

TIP! The crime does not have to be a murder. Though, if you're billing it as a murder mystery, there should be one! If you have an antsy administration, use theft as your crime.

The Structure

The most important thing to remember as you plan the story structure is that it should never move in a straight line. Victim dies, clues lead to so and so, so and so is indeed the killer. Intrigue and misdirection are essential in the mystery genre. The story must move in a crooked line, various suspects must come to the forefront and then be eliminated, secrets must be revealed.

If you're also adding the element of dinner theatre, the timing of the meal must be taken into consideration! A sample outline would proceed like this:

• PRELUDE: Audience enters. Characters mingle amongst the audience.
• ACT ONE: Formally introduces the characters to the audience.
• FIRST COURSE: Characters mingle.
• ACT TWO: The murder occurs. The detective starts the investigation.
• MAIN COURSE: Characters mingle.
• ACT THREE: Clues found, secrets revealed, perhaps a second murder.
• DESSERT: Encourage the audience to guess who did it.
• ACT FOUR: The murderer is revealed! Make it quick, make it snappy.

From beginning to end the evening should not take more than two and a half hours. The acts don't need to be epic; it's better if they're not. Keep the action fast-paced and fun.

Improv or Dialogue?

There are two script scenarios when it comes to dialogue:

Using a detailed outline and character profiles, actors improv the dialogue during the performance. With this scenario, planning still has to occur as actors need to be deeply aware of the storyline and their characters.

Or, the murder mystery is written out in full giving all characters specific lines. With this scenario, improv is still used during the meal sections in the evening as the characters mingle with the audience.

For your first murder mystery, I would suggest writing a script; there's going to be enough to worry about without having to consider the improv skill of the actors. This way there is a script to fall back on, and there's just a bit of character improv.

How much audience involvement should there be?

A lot! The murder mystery is an experience for the audience. Some murder mystery events involve the audience deeply. The actors converse with the audience as if they are additional characters ('Oh how nice to see you Countess! Nice to see you've recovered from the facelift.'). The detective can question audience members as potential suspects.

Encourage the audience to figure out who the killer is. Put clue sheets on each table so audience members can follow along and write down information. You want to be careful this aspect doesn't get out of hand though, with audience members shouting out, 'The mayor did it!' before the actual planned reveal. Consider your audience and whether or not they might take glee in ruining the mystery.

The Clues

Every murder mystery needs clues! The best clues are those that implicate more than one character in the beginning, gradually narrowing the suspects to one.

The Body

What's on the victim that might give a clue to the identity of the killer? There should definitely be at least one clue on the body to start the ball rolling; a threatening note, a love letter, a fleck of glitter, a random button, a torn up picture (or a torn up letter).

The Hard Evidence

The typical CSI stuff: fingerprints, blood, hair, objects on the scene that shouldn't be there, the trajectory of a bullet, the direction of a stab wound, gunpowder residue, handwriting sample, fibres that can be linked to someone or something such as: different fabrics, types of wood, dirt or glass.

What the Butler Saw

Are there any witnesses? Did someone see the victim and a suspect in a heated argument? Even if the witness account merely narrows down the gender, that's a great clue. If the witness thought they saw a woman, that would eliminate all male suspects. Unless, the killer was in disguise...

The Murder Weapon

Where is the weapon found? Is it beside the body or hidden? Is it linked to anyone? Was the victim chloroformed with a handkerchief bearing a suspect's initials, or is that misdirection?

The Motive

At some point, every character's motive must be revealed. Some characters will be ruled out right away; the 6' tall hotel owner was stabbed between the shoulder blades, so his 5'2" wife couldn't have killed him. Unless, she was standing on a chair.....

The Opportunity

Who was alone with the victim? Who had the opportunity to slip something into the victim's drink? Who doesn't have an alibi? Who's lying about their alibi?

The Ability

Who has the know-how to put the murder into action? If the victim was poisoned, then the killer has to be someone who knows how to get ahold of poison, and knows how poison works.

Misdirection

There must be some misdirection and red herrings (clues that seem to lead to the killer but are false) as the clues are laid out. And think about what the killer can do to misdirect: can the killer hide or change a clue?

Exercise

Continue with the award ceremony scenario. The quarterback, the intended humanitarian award recipient, ends up dead on stage. The murder weapon looks like poison that was slipped into his ever-present water bottle. He thought his Gatorade tasted funny but didn't think anything of it till it was too late.

In groups, create the following:

• A red herring clue that makes it look like the 2nd place winner, science student Sophie McQueen did the deed. Her motive is that she hates the quarterback and thinks she should have won based on her peace corps essay. What will eventually rule her out?
• Two hard evidence clues. What evidence is on or near the body?
• An eyewitness clue.
• Three clues that point to the killer, the quarterback's brother. Chad has always played second fiddle to his older brother and he's tired of it. Come up with his opportunity and his ability to carry the murder through.

The Logistics

This part of the process might be the hardest of all. Yes, even harder than writing the script in the first place! There are many things to take into consideration aside from the script if your murder mystery dinner theatre fundraiser is going to be a success.

The Location

Do you have an appropriate space to put on a dinner theatre and a show at your school? You'll need a space that's big enough for the show and holds enough tables and chairs to make the event worthwhile. How many tables will you need? How big will they be?

The Menu

The menu is going to be your biggest expense. Will you do buffet? Sit down dinner? Will there be a vegetarian option? Will you do three courses? Two? Who is going to make the food? 

Don't go overboard with the menu, particularly if you and your students are going to be responsible for making it. The audience is there to be entertained and they are aware of their surroundings. Aim to make the food fun rather than gourmet. Think simple and flexible meals such as spaghetti with salad, rolls and large plates of cookies for dessert.

TIP! If you want to do a student matinée, why not offer a 'snack' version instead of a full menu? Lower the ticket price and offer snacks and homemade baked goods in the dinner portion of the event.

The Budget

If you want to make money with your fundraiser, you have to stay on budget. What is your budget to make this project happen? Absolutely make students a part of the budgeting process. Let them know how much different elements of the event will cost. Give them projects to find the most cost-effective menu items. Cost out each item from dinner roles, to printing the programs, to whether or not you're using ceramic or paper plates. The more informed everyone is on the cost, the more informed your decisions will be.

Exercise:

In groups have students go to different grocery stores and price out what it would cost to make a spaghetti dinner. What ingredients would be needed to make the sauce? The cookies? Compare and contrast the prices to come up with a definitive best price list.

Making money

That's the final aim, right? The first thing to do is make a financial goal. Once you've decided on a budget, come up with a target amount of money you'd like to raise. Is there a special purpose for the money? (e.g. a trip, new lighting equipment, the spring musical, etc.) It's good for everyone involved to know what the goal is and what has to be accomplished to meet the goal.

Ticket price

The ticket price will depend on your budget, how many tickets you have to sell to reach a profit, what type of food you'll be serving as part of your menu and how much your community will be willing to pay.

Exercise:

Have students do the math. How many seats will be in the room? How much money will you make if you sell x number of tickets at $20, $25, or $30? What happens if you have a discounted student/senior price? What's the break even point? 50%? 60% ? 75%?

Marketing

The key to making money is to get as many people out to your show as possible. And that means more than family members of the cast. This is why it's important to have a goal, financial or otherwise – you can use it as part of your marketing plan.

What is a marketing plan?

The methods you use to get the important information about your show out into the community. There are marketing methods that are within your control, such as school promotions (announcements, posters in the hallways, school television stations) and social media (website, Twitter, Facebook). Then there are marketing methods beyond your control such as the local media. You can't control whether the local media will pick up your show and cover it. Depending on where you live, you may have a lot of media outlets to choose from or you may have very little.

Either way, it's necessary to try. Impress on students that those in the media are used to receiving press releases, they are used to follow-up phone calls. They are used to people trying to sell them on an event. The worst a reporter can do is say no!

For a marketing plan you need:

A press release: This is your most important media tool. It needs to be professional, it needs to get out the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY in an efficient manner. Press releases should always include contact information, and should never be longer than a page.

A PSA (Public Service Announcement): Many places may not report on your event but they are happy to include information in their community listings. A PSA is a shortened version of the press release.

A social media presence: Get a Facebook page for your event, go on Twitter, get on your school's website.

Contact any school media outlets: Is there a school newspaper? Morning announcements? A school television program? The show should be on all these outlets.

Create a contact list: Who can you email about the show? Who can you send postcards to? Who can you fax too? Have students create a list of those who will be directly contacted about coming to the show.
Contact community outlets such as your public access cable television station.

Radio and television coverage: As I say above, the worst a reporter can do is say no. Send out press releases, follow up with a phone call, be specific about the fundraiser aspect.

Exercise:

Have students write a press release for the murder mystery. What are the highlights of the event? What makes it unique? Why should members of the community attend? Make sure there is a WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, and WHY.

The Performance

This is it! All the planning and all the writing leads up to the actual performance. A couple of things to think about:

Warm Up: An important part of the warm up is to establish a physical presence for the character. Walk around the room in character.

Stay in character, especially if you are mingling with the audience during the meal sections. These are not breaks for the actors. There's nothing that ruins atmosphere more than actors who step outside the world of the play.

Keep on schedule. There's more going on than just the play. There's the dinner schedule, you might be trying to sell raffle tickets, and so on. Everyone is responsible for keeping an eye on the time.

Breathe and have fun! Remember that at the end of the day, it's supposed to be an enjoyable evening.

Talking With Murder Mystery Performers

I spoke with a couple of murder mystery performers and asked what their number one tips were for performing murder mysteries.

Dave Pearce and Jennine Profeta are seasoned murder mystery performers and have both also performed with The Second City. They love the big and broad aspect of the genre and think it's really important know exactly who your character during the mingling sections of the night.

Jennine: The best thing about murder mystery is the one-on-one connection you make with the audience.

Dave: Find some business for your character to do with each guest outside of the scripted material.

Shelley Hoffman has been performing and writing murder mysteries for over ten years. She played one of the few female detective characters in Toronto, and here's her detective character description. It's a excellent example of a character that is detailed, specific and over the top at the same time.

Shelley: She's a 1950's housewife called Mrs Peevers. She had a whole bunch of kids, seven children, and I would be able to list them in one breath. What does that have to do with being a detective? Nothing, but it creates a specific character. Mrs Peevers was the 'perfect mother' and treated everyone in the room, whether they were the audience members, or suspects, or other actors, she treated everyone like they were her children. For example, if I was on my out of the room to interrogate someone I'd tell the audience that they had to 'sit there and think about what they've done.'

It's about taking whatever your character's point of view is and use that in the mystery. Know your character's likes and dislikes. Be playful with your character's choices. It's so important to know your character. When I was developing a character, I'd walk around the apartment in character. I'd clean my house in character. The first time you do the character cannot be during the murder mystery. You'll freak yourself out.

Shelley provided a number of helpful performance hints:

How to mingle: People are always freaked out about how to mingle – you could end up standing on the edge and basically feeling like you're interrupting. You have to interrupt! You have to mingle. My biggest piece of advice on mingling is to go ask a question, whether you're looking for something, or want to know something. That way you can introduce yourself into other people's conversations. Give your character a quest so you can mingle comfortably with other people. If you've got a question and something that you want to know, then the conversation will flow easily.

On the audience: If you're going to do audience participation, you turn your victims into victors. Don't make fun of them too much, or be really mean to them. If the audience is really having a good time, and they're really wrapped up they will start to form allegiances. You can totally get an audience on your side.

On keeping the story straight: My detective character carried around a little clutch purse, and I carried recipe cards in there with the outline and things my character had to do. I had no problem with that. But you have to be careful not to get them stolen! People can get very aggressive!

At the end of our conversation, Shelley shared her thoughts on the importance of writing and performing murder mysteries.

Shelley: People put murder mystery down. They say it's not "real acting." But it changed the way I acted in traditional plays! I can handle anything. A set piece can fall, it wouldn't matter. You can't hide in a murder mystery. Why not put yourself on the line and see what you can do? Murder mystery is empowering and exciting. It's the way performing should be. Definitely a great theatrical exercise.

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