Fall play begins to fall in the hands of the Acting III/IV class. Directed by Marcy Keyser-Goodnow, the theater teacher at Paso High, and written by Ben Abbott, a substitute teacher at Paso, Murder Mystery, Mystery Murder has started to take shape and will see the stage the weekends of December 6-8th and 13-15th.
Abbott obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Theater and Performance Studies at U.C. Berkeley and is currently working on completing his Master of Fine Art in Playwriting at Hollins University. This year, Abbott had a play premiere at the Great American Melodrama entitled Grave Mistakes: A Haunted Rom-Com. Making their way across the U.S., his plays have been produced at Auburn University in Montgomery Alabama and Hollins Playwrights’ Lab in Roanoke, Virginia.
This will be the first time Paso Robles High Theater Company will perform an original play written for them.
“We gave Abbott ideas here and there, and he would ask us, do we like this? I think it’s just really exciting that we get to, as a class, help write the script,” Acting IV student Geovani Rendon said.
Murder Mystery, Mystery Murder is a comedic horror with characters ranging from party hosts to party crashers; but what are their true intentions towards each other? Along with the secrets of the characters, the story has secrets of its own to reveal.
The play offers the actors things Goodnow strives for her students to experience, “I want something that is rigorous and challenges these students in ways that they haven’t been challenged, which is why I’m doing a murder mystery,” Goodnow said.
This play also holds a unique aspect due to its substantial number of named characters, allowing every student the chance to be casted with satisfaction.
“I think what’s the coolest thing is that when the cast list came out, people weren’t bummed because there are so many named characters,” Goodnow said.
In February of 2025 the Acting II students will perform the chilling children’s play, Frozen; and open to all students, the soulful spring musical, Hadestown.
