The Cornerstone Theatre is hosting their annual dinner theatre on Friday, April 28, and Saturday, April 29, along with just the play on Sunday, April 30.
The murder mystery farce, “While the Lights Were Out,” by Jack Sharkey is a classic whodunnit themed play with a twist.
Director, Dianne Twietmeyer, explained, “This is a different kind of comedy than we usually do. We typically have a million doors opening and closing, men dressed as women, and mistaken identities; but, this one isn’t like that.”
“We’re going to have to swear the audience to secrecy after they see it, part of the enjoyment of this particular play is attempting to figure out who did it. It’s set in Bermuda and is in a very British household, guests arrive during a storm, and the lights go out… and someone winds up dead. Everyone on stage is a suspect. It’s a silly plot, yet quite intricate.”
“There’s a lot of over the top characters, especially the lead detective.”
Characters include an Alabama lady, a Frenchman, a fashion designer, a Jamaican maid, and a bumbling detective “who is totally incompetent and wouldn’t solve anything without his sergeant.”
Ultimately it’s a fun mystery, which will have the audience watching for clues; but, with the bumbling detective is it really a clue?
“The script we chose mainly because of the large cast; we wanted to get new people interested on stage and get them up there along with experienced ones.”
This year 15 people are involved in the play including: Colleen Easton, David Slykhuis, Bertha Isleifson, Lane Easton, Denise Singleton, Sandra Campbell, Debbie Sorensen, Matt Gesell, Don Carter, Heather Vermeersch, Bryanne Forcier, Monte McNaughton, Jesse Twietmeyer, Mel Gesell, and Candy Bye.
Cornerstone first met on Feb. 22 to discuss the play and were reading the script by Feb. 29.
“There were so many people interested that doing the casting was a challenge, but I think we’ve got the right people in the right spot,” Dianne said. “The cast is spot on with their lines and their delivery is great. People will have to laugh quietly though because it’s very funny, but you don’t want to miss anything while trying to figure out who did it.”
David and Shelley Slykhuis will be cooking the dinner for the dinner theatre. The always delicious meal starts at 7 p.m., cocktails are held at 6 p.m., and the performance on Friday and Saturday will be held at 8 p.m. The Sunday matinee is a 2 p.m. show.
Tickets to the play can be purchased at The Pearl Boutique.
One exciting addition to the theatre includes an extra cubicle in the ladies washroom upstairs.
“Ladies at intermission were always lined up and those that are able would go downstairs, but that was difficult for our older patrons sometimes and they’d be lined up for the one cubicle here. So, there will be two there now and one of them will be wheelchair accessible.”
