The latest production by the Pilgrim Players Drama Club is primed to have audiences seeing double.

“As a director, I’ve never tried anything quite like this before,” says Richard Denningham, who has had the unique challenge of preparing two separate casts for the high school's upcoming spring play.  "I also don't know that I'll be trying anything like it again, but we had such a strong turnout at auditions that I really felt that it would be worth having a second cast.  It also gives more students an opportunity to share in the spotlight."

Beginning on Friday evening, the two casts will be alternating for performances of Bloody Murder, a comic mystery which spoofs the works of Agatha Christie.

Last year, a few of the students mentioned that they'd be really interested in putting on a mystery for our spring production," says Denningham.  "I spent a lot of time over the summer reading scripts before I settled on this one: the humor is really engaging and the first time I read it, I genuinely couldn't see the twist ending coming.  I think audiences will be surprised too - the ending makes perfect sense, but it’s really difficult to predict.”

Written by Ed Sala, the play takes place in a secluded estate in the English countryside, and features all of the usual suspects: a swaggering, John Bull-style, army major, freshly returned from the colonies; a mysterious, alluring woman in a stylish scarlet dress; a fabulously wealthy countess and her long-suffering maid… In short, the sort of people who should never be allowed anywhere near a candlestick, revolver or lead pipe.

“Because of the stock characters, audiences are likely to develop expectations for how the plot will play out,” says Denningham.  “One of the really great aspects of this script is how it challenges those expectations, using cliches and red herrings to keep the audience guessing until the big reveal at the end.”

Although the characters might be imported directly from period melodrama, bringing them to life required more than a little creativity on the part of the actors.  “It’s been fascinating working with two different casts and seeing how they approach their roles,” Denningham says.  “I always tell students to find their own truth within the script - that there are a number of equally valid ways to present their characters while still remaining true to what the author wrote.  A slight change in delivery can lead to pretty substantial differences in the way a character comes across.  One actress might deliver a joke with a touch of sarcasm, while another might play it as innocently naive, which leads to two very different impressions of the same character.”

Pilgrim senior Sarah Whelan will be playing the role of Emma on Friday evening and the Saturday matinee; she says that performing in a double-casted show offered a unique theatrical experience.  “It’s odd to see someone else’s portrayal of the character that you play yourself, but in a way, it’s nice to see that character interpreted in a completely different way,” she says.  “It makes you see other sides to these characters.”

These sentiments were echoed by fellow 12th grader Princess Johnson, Whelan’s counterpart on Saturday evening and on Sunday.  “Knowing that someone else is playing the same character puts even more pressure on you to get it right,” Johnson says. “ But during this process, we all learned that we have very different interpretations of the same character, and that's ok!  This was a challenging show to produce, but I believe we did an amazing job and I feel so prepared for any future production I will be a part of.”

The production runs this entire weekend, with evening performances beginning at 7:00 and matinees at 2:00.  Tickets are $10 for adults and can be purchased at the door.