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Remain Seated by Cenarth Fox
3 Men, 5 Women
Author of: Agatha Crispie, All Wrong on the Night, This is your Captain Speaking
Local theatre companies are everywhere. You probably have one or more quite close to where you live. Well it's in one such local theatre company that a terrible incident took place. The actors were staging a new play. Nothing fantastic. Just a regular domestic comedy/drama ending in a 'whodunnit'.
The actors were into the first act and following the script. Two actors struggle and fall behind a settee. One actor has a gun and sound effects produce a bang. But then the other actors dry. They haven't forgotten their lines. The gun really went off. It was really loaded. With a real bullet. And what's worse, much worse. The actor who is supposed to get shot, has been shot and is ... dead.
The play is stopped and after much confusion the police and an ambulance are called. The problem is explained to the audience who are eventually "allowed to go home".
They don't really of course but are privy to the police investigation. And some surprising secrets come out. Each actor in the theatre company plus the stage manager hated the dead actor. Everyone had a reason to see the actor killed. This is looking more like a crime of passion every minute.
Of course this is a great challenge for the actors who have to play two roles themselves and the character in the play.
The investigation draws out even more clues and your audience, who have all "gone home", are trying to guess 'whodunnit'. But the plot twists keep on coming. The real murderer is on stage but not everyone is who they seem.
Finally the actors are allowed to go home and the police discuss the suspects. But all is not as it seems here either and the actors have been very good at their job.
This thriller is not resolved until the very last line.
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