JAY — The Amvets Post #33 Hall was full on Saturday evening, Oct. 19, as community members gathered for dinner and a show. The Spruce Mountain High School drama club and the Post #33 Ladies Auxiliary hosted a murder mystery dinner with a theme of  “Class of 1985.”

The $25 ticket to attend the event included an appetizer, salad, dinner, and dessert as well as interactive entertainment. After attendees had a chance to eat, the show began with the theater students speaking around the room in character. The room was decorated with balloons and banners as if it were a high school reunion and the theater students were each a member of the graduated class of 1985.

Each student introduced their character and their backstory through dialogue with other students. High school clique personalities were portrayed through some of the characters, and some of the backstories showed classic stereotypes such as being a popular kid and returning at the reunion feeling unsuccessful in life compared to their peers.

After introductions, the characters joined together for a toast and it was following this when Rickey Bowen’s character collapsed suddenly to the surprise of the crowd. Actors Nathalie Baker and Cohen Pelkey’s characters checked on him before pronouncing him dead. The characters decided that it was a murder and locked down the building until they uncovered who the murderer was.

The audience was left to guess who could have done it as the students performed the rest of the show in a similar fashion to the classic board game and movie, Clue.

In an interview during a break in the show, the students shared that the script for the show was originally a class project for an elective taught by their teacher Kymberly Bryant. They came up with a script and designed their characters, but they shared that a lot of the show is improvised.

The students also said that they won the One Act competition this past spring which was what encouraged the Amvets Post #33 Ladies Auxiliary to take interest in collaborating with the drama club.

Gracelyn Libby who was working the sound board for the event said that this was the first time they had put on the event, but that they hoped to do it again in the future.

“It was a huge event in the community,” said Donna Arsenault, Ladies Auxiliary member who helped organize the event. “The community is amazing to come out and show support for the kids.”

All proceeds earned from the event went to the Spruce Mountain drama club and the Amvets Post #33 Ladies Auxiliary.