On March 24th, Cranford High School’s International Thespian Society presented their annual Murder Mystery–a highly anticipated interactive theater event. Each year, a new writer is chosen to write and help plan the murder along with planting the evidence such as the murder weapons and motive. Additionally, each year a new theme is chosen, with 2023 the actors selecting a roaring 20s theme, filled with flappers, gangsters, singers, bartenders, mafia bosses, and so much more. 

This year, Makayla Werner had the honor to write the Murder Mystery. She created a suspicious setting, the Lotus Casino, a secret underground casino during the prohibition period of the 1920s. The lower cafeteria was turned into a dimly lit casino with private poker players and a special bar with homemade mocktails. 

The beginning of the night was filled with introductions: the audience getting to know more about each individual character in order to start creating theories and gathering evidence. They were introduced to many people such as Ambrose Calloway (played by Shane Hamblin), the casino’s resident lounge singer, Scarlett King (played by Molly Sample), a slick card player looking to make it big, Tomas Sutton (played by Ethan Costello), a tough body guard, Rhianna Pierce (played by Adrianna Pizzuta), a renowned flapper dancer, and many more. 

As dinner was served and the guests sat down to eat, the cast continued to walk around and interact with the audience. Halfway through dinner, Ambrose and Rhianna performed a specialty dance and song. Shane began by singing “Charleston,” a well known 20s song, as Adrianna danced her original 20s inspired choreography. As the spectacular performance happened, a “murder” occurred in the other cafeteria! But who did it? 

As clues were revealed and secrets began to emerge, the audience continued to become more and more invested in the storyline. They helped search for weapons and clues as the cast guided them to their suspicions. 

By the end of the night it was revealed that Scarlett King was responsible for the gruesome murder- yet the audience didn’t vote her as their suspected killer. Molly Sample’s acting helped her successfully get away with murder… until next year at the yearly Murder Mystery.