On April 6, 7, and 8 the Washington College Writers' Theater staged performances of an original piece entitled "Clue." Writers' Theater has put on several original performances over the last two years, including "Looks Like Rain" and "Out to Lunch." The group, under president Jenn Mullan, write, direct, and perform their own works.
Writers' Theater's "Clue" was based loosely on the premise of the movie "Clue." The audience was divided into three groups and cycled through a series of six scenes which introduce a cast of characters and slowly develop the mystery. The performance was staged in the O'Neill Literary House, with the different scenes taking place in several rooms of the house; the audience observed from within the rooms, often mingling with the performers.
Between the second and third acts, there was a short intermission, during which the audience was served refreshments and had the opportunity to meet with the characters one-on-one, as well as observe some impromptu exchanges between the performers.
The final act of the play brought the three audience sections together to watch a final scene. The audience was then given a question-and-answer period in which they could interrogate the various characters and attempt to solve the mystery. After an audience vote, the ending was played out and the audience found out whether they were right or not.
The initial concept for this performance was introduced by one of the group's members, Mindy Beers, shortly before Christmas Break.
"We said anyone could write an initial scene using whatever characters they wanted," said writer/actress Jenn Reeder.
"Four of us wrote scenes, and we voted to use three of them," she continued. Using the initial three scenes as a springboard, three more writers were brought in to continue the story with the same characters in three additional scenes.
"Originally, we wanted to let the audience vote on who did it each night, and then we'd have endings depending on whatever the audience chose. But that turned out to be too complicated. So we decided to just write three different endings, one for each night," explained Reeder.
When all of the writing and planning was completed, the scenes were compiled into three acts, the first act consisting of scenes written by Matt Gomez, Jenn Reeder, and Mindy Beers, the second act with scenes by Ben Clausen, Katie Kolacki, and Sean Woznicki, and the third act with a scene by Jenn Mullan and the variable ending.
The three endings were written by Reeder, Mullen, and Gomez. Once the play was compiled, parts were assigned by the writers who doubled as the directors for their own scenes. "Ben Clausen asked me to play a part in his scene, so I said 'sure,'" said actor Robert Roan. "This was more low key then other things I'd been in. It was a lot easier to work through."
Rehearsals for the show took place through the month of March, two to three times a week for each scene. "For those who were acting and directing, it was extra difficult," noted Reeder.
In the end, however, she comments that "it all came together beautifully."
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