This year’s fall play was titled “The Grande Demise,” and was written and directed by our very own Mr Morris. Unlike any Dover school play of the past, the second act was completely improvised. Additionally, the audience had the opportunity to participate in the story and influence its course.
Although the cast was only 15 strong, each character is unique and vital to the story. The owner of the theater, Phillip LeGrande (Max Cooley), inherits the theater from his late father. He essentially runs it into the ground, causing all other characters to develop sour feelings towards him, with tensions increasing throughout the play. Michael McShifty (Noah Beachy) was a friend of LeGrande’s father. He is tasked with selling the theater on Phillip’s behalf. Early in the play, he expresses his disdain towards Phillip and his actions, mentioning that Phillip should be punished. Autumn Drivemore (Allie Hamsher) is a theater employee who happens to be in a relationship with Phillip LeGrande. After keeping a large secret about the sale of the theater from Phillip, he ends the relationship. Autumn then states that she will “get him back for this” before exiting the stage. Buddy Faux, played by Brody Warne, is a friend of Phillip’s from college. His complaints have everything to do with money, as the sale of the theater would cause him to go bankrupt and force him to give up his lavish lifestyle. Squeaky Bevereaux is an actress played by Laney Gottshall. She is angry with Phillip for ruining her career, which centered around the LeGrande Theater. Cliff Moneybottom (Deacon Polen) is Squeaky’s agent. With his client’s career failing, he is losing money fast and places full blame on Phillip. Hope and Gabe Loveall (Elle Hall and Nick White) are a couple interested in purchasing the theater. Although they seem like a happy couple, Hope is hiding a massive secret. Their daughter, Henrietta (Lyela Miller), is Phillip LeGrande’s child. After he refused to keep the secret, Hope was understandably angry with him. Gabe, in turn, was angry with him as well for upsetting Hope. Priscilla Pinpoint (Maddie Minnis) is the LeGrande Theater’s secretary. Following Phillip’s instructions, she forged a few numbers, causing the theater to get audited. Phillip planned to place the blame on her entirely, which would lead to her arrest. Susie Stepful (Cassidy McKee) is the theater’s choreographer. If the theater were to be sold, she would lose her job. Daisy Stems (Emily Flood) is the owner of a flower shop that is partnered with the theater. After the sale of the theater, she will not have a stable flow of customers and will eventually go out of business. Rod Stems (Owen Reineke) is Daisy Stems’s husband. After helping Phillip and his father with some construction work in the theater, he was left with a leg injury that further harmed his wife’s business. Peter Poorman (Jake Hershberger) is an orphan who works and lives at the theater. After inheriting the theater, Phillip decides to start charging Peter for his occupancy. Peter can not afford this and will end up being forced onto the street.
About halfway through the play, Phillip LeGrande is found dead backstage. This is when Molly Goodman (Maddy Luellen) is introduced to the audience. Molly is the first female detective in the United States and is commissioned to solve the murder case with the help of the audience. After a ten-minute intermission, Goodman begins interviewing the characters one by one. Just like a game of Clue, there is a plethora of murder weapons as well as suspects. The weapons include a pen, medicine, a cigar, perfume, a stage knife, a syringe, homemade wine, a scarf, flowers, a cane, and a glass of water. During the interviews, much is revealed about the characters: affairs, infatuations, medical conditions, and lifelong grudges are just some of the many secrets being kept by the characters.
After the initial interviews, the floor was opened to the audience to ask any questions they needed answered to form their own theory. Afterwards, votes were collected from all audience members and counted offstage. The character who got the most votes was the killer for that night and was arrested before the end of the play.
Cast member Noah Beachy (Michael McShifty) says that he “found [the play] very enjoyable, and really liked that only half of the show was scripted.” He goes on to say, “We were all competing a bit to try to be the killer. Our acting was so exaggerated, and we had a lot of fun, and I think that made it more fun for the audience too.” Another cast member, Emily Flood (Daisy Stems), noted that “It was a great experience, as it pushed us all in our abilities due to the whole improvisation section. Getting interrogated by the audience and getting voted as the murderer on opening night made it an extremely fun show and arguably my favorite I’ve been in.” Clearly, it was a good experience for the cast and a perfect opportunity for them to grow as actors.
It was quite entertaining for the audience as well, especially because the show was different each night. Senior Kacy Ireland stated that she absolutely loved the show: “I think the improv gave the actors a chance to really get into character and have fun while performing. It was also really entertaining to watch because they got to do what they thought was best. I especially enjoyed Lyela Miller’s acting. She was definitely the star of the show, even though she only had a few lines.”
All in all, the play was fun, exciting, and unlike any other produced at Dover High School in the past. Mr Morris executed his idea well, and he should be very proud of the result.
