Staging a Virtual Whodunnit

Who killed Felix Franz, the fictional owner of the fictional Red Bird Jazz Club? Was it June, his ex-girfriend; Elliott, the pianist or Pops, the club manager? Only upper school acting teacher Meg O’Connor and her cast of characters know for sure.

O’Connor’s advanced acting class created an interactive murder mystery story and website where the viewer plays the role of the detective and then watches interviews with the suspects. At the end, there is a chance to guess who the culprit is. The project was shared with the upper school community on Friday, November 6.

“I keep trying to come up with ways to connect audiences and stories. Because we started the year remote, I wanted the kids to feel connected together through an imaginary world, and to have a stake in each other’s work,” said O’Connor. 

Students rallied around the idea and recorded monologues for the interview scenes. Tiago Brousset ’22, who played the role of politician Jefferson Pringle, said, “We made the best out of a bad situation. We could’ve just worked independently on monologues, but making it connected and interactive made it more exciting.”
 
“It’s so different from what we normally do,” said Daniela Batista ’22, who played the widow Edith Franz. “The technical challenges were very real, because you’re recording a performance and there are just so many things that are out of your control.”

The hardest part was not having the intimate connection with a live audience that a regular, in-person performance brings. 

Katie Williams ’22, who played journalist Claudia Pringle Wallace, said, “We’re used to acting for an audience, and acting for a camera is a very different skill. It was interesting to think about acting in this new way.”

One recent viewer was Peter Newcomb, the head of the upper school, who enjoyed playing detective. “I was really impressed with the work that went into imagining and designing it. It was a creative, alternative approach to producing something for an audience that showcased the students’ skills,” he said.
 
To try and solve the mystery, here is the link: Enter the Story

SHARE Article