You may get the chance to solve a murder or two this weekend in an evening of intrigue provided by the Scotland County Literacy Council.
The council will hold a murder mystery dinner, entitled “Gobble, Gobble, Death, and Trouble” at 6 p.m. on Saturday at St. Luke United Methodist Church, at 1501 Turnpike Road, Laurinburg.
“The story concerns a famous restaurateur named Ramsay Gordon who was famous for his turkey recipe,” said Rick Hodges, director of the production. “One day, folks show up to have dinner and find Gordon has been killed. His death is mysterious and it is a homicide.”
Among the six suspects are a rival restaurateur, a sous-chef employed by Gordon, and an authoress on a mission to acquire the chef’s famous turkey recipe. The suspects, played by local actors, will present their defense to the diners, who will then be charged with discovering the killer’s identity.
Tickets for “Gobble, Gobble, Death, and Trouble” are $25 per person, including dinner. For information or to purchase tickets, call the literacy council at 910-276-7007.
Following a dinner catered by Jerry’s Deli and Grill, each table will work as a team to interrogate each suspect, and several clues will be revealed throughout.
“The six persons playing the suspects have two sheets of paper — the story they tell and background information,” Hodges said. “They have to ask the right question to get them to share what they have.”
At the end of the evening, each table will submit their guess as to the identity of the murderer. Each participant that guesses correctly will receive a cup commemorating the evening.
“It’s really not a play, it is totally interactive,” said Hodges. “It’s a contest between teams to see who can decide, based on the clues, who committed the murder. It’s a fun thing, I’ve been involved in four of them now.”
In addition to its annual Taste of the Town in March, the Scotland County Literacy Council counts two murder mysteries a year among its major fund raising events. The dinners usually raise about $1,000. Diana Altman, executive director of the literacy council, hopes to have about 60 people attend this weekend’s production.
“It is fun, people enjoy it, it’s entertaining, and there’s good food,” Altman said. “It’s a fun evening and people come back because they’ve enjoyed it so much.”
All profits from the event will support literacy council programs, which focus on many areas of adult education. “We’re branching out right now to serve children and adults who are dyslexic,” Altman said. “That’s a new direction we’re going into, in addition to the other things we always do: basic adult education, GED prep, WorkKeys prep, ESL, and basic computer skills.”
Post a Comment
