Fall Murder Mystery Production Takes the Stage

Alex Reynolds, Staff Writer

Rockville High School’s fall production, The Murderous Mansion of Mr. Uno, opened Friday, Nov. 4 with much anticipation.

It was a murder mystery that resembled the classic board game, “Clue.” The fall play was especially unique this year because it featured an ending that students could vote on, allowing the audience to vote on the who they wanted the murderer to be.

There were two sets of casts for the play, and the cast I viewed had great talent and chemistry. One actress included junior Rebecca Ehlers who played the role of Ms. Bilkem, the lawyer.

“We really are a family, we are together five days a week, we accept everyone and know no one is superior, we are all equal,” said Ehlers.

The play is directed by Dana Sato, who has been directing the RHS plays for five years. She was very excited and optimistic about the production.

In her director’s notes Sato said, “Every fall and spring, I ask [the cast] to up their game-and every time, they rise to the challenge.”

The first thing that stands out about the play is the set design. The sets were beautiful, using props like elegant tables, furniture and a fully operational door to make the scenes look like they are taking place in a much larger mansion. The scene transitions also stood out, and the stage crew did an excellent job rotating the different sets in and out.

The acting chops of the actors and actresses shine through in the dialogue scenes because they bring these characters with very different backgrounds together and develop chemistry within each other.

At the intermission the audience gathered by the voting desk to place their vote on who they want to be the murderer. The interaction between the audience and the play itself was very cool to see.

“Audiences like to interact with whats going on [in the play]a��. Being able to vote gets them more invested,” Sato said.

While it was unique to see the audience getting into the play, the final product was not as fluid as they planned. The second act is composed of all of the characters admitting to being the murderer and giving a reason but then not actually being the murderer. This left the audience in a sort of a confused haze.

All in all, the Murderous House of Mr. Uno was a risk by Sato and the cast to execute such a complex script. However I believe it payed off by giving the audience a one-of-a-kind experience.