Courtesy of Hannah Reynolds
The Hastings High Tiger Theatre club has released the sign-up sheet for this year’s Murder Mystery. The Murder Mystery is an event where Drama Club attendees eat good food, chat with others, and solve a murder. Some highlights of the Murder Mystery include the decorations, the characters, and the food provided at the party.
The plot of this year’s Murder Mystery is seven scientists discover time travel and bring dead celebrities back to the present to create a new super movie with current and deceased celebrities. The character descriptions will be released before the Murder Mystery event begins.
The sign-ups started October 2 and they are due October 20 at 4:00. The drama club officers emphasize that you please make sure you sign up in time because they start on the character descriptions right away.
The drama club president senior Hannah Reynolds explained the process of how the Drama Club officers plan the event.
“We start planning it before school even starts. We figure out what we want to do for the plot, and it takes a lot of effort and work because we have to plan the character descriptions and the venue plus what food we want to have,” Reynolds said.
Last year the murder mystery did not happen because of COVID. The last Murder Mystery happened two years ago in 2019.
Referring to the 2019 contest, “It was really successful that year. We had a lot of people come and we made a whole Italian meal. It took us all day to prepare,” Reynolds said.
The Murder Mystery has been going on at Hastings High for several years during the fall months.
“I don’t really know who started it. I’ve known about it since I started drama club here at Hastings High School,” Reynolds said.
The plot of the Murder Mystery was discussed between the officers at the drama club meetings.
“Tyson Pappas had an idea for time travel to be a factor, and old and new Hollywood stars come together and make one big super movie,” Reynolds said.
The success of the Murder Mystery two years ago gave the officers an idea of what to do again for this year.
“We had all the decorations and food set up and everyone came in at the same time. It’s really cool when people come in because they have certain costumes and we get to see them,” Reynolds said.
The venue used last year was the C3 Hotel in Hastings. Softball girls were staying at the hotel while the Murder Mystery was happening, and they said that everyone at the Murder Mystery was so good at acting.
“People walk around and talk to each other, and then the officers pull people aside and say, ‘Hey you are going to go murder this person.’ We put a sheet over the victim, and then we leave evidence and clues around the venue,” Reynolds said.
After giving people enough time to look around for clues, the mystery of the murder is discussed.
“At the very end we do a poll to see who the murderer is and then they are revealed,” Reynolds said.
It is evident this year’s Murder Mystery will be filled with fun and adventure.
“One of the hallmarks at Hastings High is the Murder Mystery, and I’m just excited to be able to do a Murder Mystery this year since we couldn’t last year because of COVID,” Reynolds said.
