Seniors help solve murder mystery

Seniors at the Golden Hour Senior Center Friday evening were treated to a Hawaiian luau-style dinner of barbecued ribs and tropical drinks.

Then, being the helpful members of society seniors often are, they helped solve a murder most foul.

The night was a dinner-theater performance hosted by Stage Crush, a group of members from nonprofit theater group Actor’s Mission.

Kristen Riley, who heads Stage Crush, said it’s a group who focus on improvisational acting and sketch comedy who help provide publicity for the Actor’s Mission and its performances and perform for community service.

“We’re not just the Actor’s Mission,” Riley said.

Aside from having the chance to entertain dozens of seniors at the center, Riley said the group is also promoting the Actor’s Mission’s next play, “Mind over Matt,” which Actor’s Mission will host auditions for next week.

Friday’s dinner, dubbed Lethal Luau, is the second dinner mystery the group has performed.

Golden Hour Senior Center Director Beth Whitman said the first performance, which took place in October, turned out to be very popular, prompting the center to ask the performers to return.

“These aren’t like our usual dinners, the Actor’s Mission does a great job,” Whitman said.

The murder mystery aspect of the evening was actually adapted from a dinner party game, also titled Lethal Luau.

Riley said the game originally was intended for a small dinner party where guests would assume the identity of game characters and, while playing in-character, deduce which guest was the murderer.

Stage Crush members received a character card detailing their character and the relationship they had with the murder victim, then use that information to perform in front of the seniors.

During the performance, clues and vital pieces of information are dropped to help the audience deduce which character is the murderer, with the seniors actively taking part by accusing the cast members during segments of the performance.