Murder Among Friends Features Shepherd Alumns

Just in time for Halloween, a murder thriller play is coming to the Old Opera House in Charles Town, W.Va.!

“Murder Among Friends,” a comedic thriller, is opening at the Old Opera House this weekend. Directed by Susan Thornton, this show tells the story of a vain, rich actor, his backstabbing wife and a double-crossing agent. Angela, the wife, and Ted, the agent, are lovers and plan to murder Palmer, the actor, during a botched robbery on New Year’s Eve. However, the actor and the agent are also lovers and have an identical plan to kill the actor’s wife. A murder does occur, but not one of the planned ones.

This is the show’s debut at the Old Opera House and a debut performance for many of the cast members. In addition, this is also the first show that Shepherd alumnus, Ed Conn, has ever stage managed.

“My job as the stage manager for this particular show has been tricky. I was also in charge of props, costumes and set dressing. I basically made sure that actors had their lines correct and that cues were always correct,” said Conn.

“Murder Among Friends” is set in the present-day in an elegant New York City apartment. A multi-level set was constructed for the show, and the murder comedy-thriller required some interesting props.

“The craziest part has been working with the [prop] guns. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s intimidating at first. Also another challenge is the fact that I have no direct line of sight to see the actors, so I have to pay special attention to how lines are delivered each night,” said Conn.

The play is a unique, modern comedy with fast-paced, witty dialogue and some scarily surprising plot twists.

“‘Murder Among Friends’ is not only a thriller, it’s a comedy. There are a lot of different plot lines within the story and it’s easy to get off course. There is no way to guess the outcome,” added Conn.

The cast includes Bettina Fiery, Dan Rice, C. J. Stevens, Eileen Elliott, Robert Allen and Troy Crossley.

“Murder Among Friends” will run Oct. 18, 19, 25 and 26 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 20 and 27 at 2:30 p.m. All performances occur at the Old Opera House, 204 N George St., Charles Town, W.Va. Tickets are $19 for adults for evening performances and $17 for matinee performances. Student tickets are $10 for all performances.

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