Murder On Cue

Customers wishing to perform this play in the USA or its dependencies should please do so under the identical but alternatively titled 'Murder At Maple Lodge'. Please see 'More Information'.

'Murder On Cue' is a murder mystery set in Maple Lodge, a retirement home for actors, where gossip and old rivalries sustain the residents as much as the dry sherry and shepherd’s pie.  A fall of snow means the home is cut off from the outside world.  No-one can leave, including Gareth, the young solicitor who arrived that afternoon to re-do the will of his waspish Aunt Sybil.  Sue, the manager, and Judy, her assistant, discuss the problem that the home is under threat of closure and what to do about a spate of poison pen letters, that Sue means to get to the bottom of.  There are many rivalries between, and old grudges held by, the other residents: sensible Molly, camp Larry, ditzy Desiree, gentlemanly Charles and grande dame Olivia. It would appear that everyone has cause to dislike one of the residents, namely bitchy Sybil.

In an attempt to get to the bottom of the poison pen letters Sue gets the residents to read out the anonymous letters they have received – maybe that will winkle out the perpetrator.  This results in secrets being revealed, some more reluctantly than others.  There is also the mystery of the photo of a young man, where all claim to be unaware of his identity.  The residents retire to bed, except for Sybil.  The lights go out and Sybil, alone on stage, falls victim to an unseen killer.

After breakfast, still snowed in, the residents wonder how they’re going to pass the day.  A cupboard is opened and, to general shock, the body of Sybil is discovered.

With the residents in a state of shock, and with heavy snow outside there is no way the police can reach them.  Accusations fly, Sue tries to keep things calm and the resourceful Molly emerges as a born Miss Marple.  Some of the characters venture outside to clear the snow and fill the bird table, after which another body is discovered. It’s Gareth, the solicitor, frozen to death in the snow… an accident, suicide, or another murder?

Thanks to the detective work of the redoubtable Molly, the truth is revealed and the killer unmasked.  Various loose ends are tied up but the play ends on a surprising note with our residents deciding to employ their acting skills one last time in an effort to protect the identity of the killer from the police when they would eventually arrive.