IROQUOIS – Apparently someone “did in” Lady Mary, but with a manor full of suspicious characters, and possibly a ghost or two lurking in the shadows, it’s going to be a real challenge to discover just who is actually responsible.
And to make matters worse, tea will be late!
The Iroquois-Matilda Lions club is into final rehearsals for its 2018 production of Pat Cook’s hilarious and wacky comedy, Madam’s Been Murdered, Tea Will Be Late.
With a cast of 12 Lions and Lion spouses, the show is a little less than five weeks from opening night, April 19, at Upper Canada Playhouse.
The set, designed by John Thompson, is already under construction in the Playhouse workshop.
Stage, costuming and make-up crews are hard at work (as is prompter Dick Piché).
Eagerly anticipated every two years, the Iroquois-Matilda Lions’ play is a major fund raiser for the club.
And all of the funds raised by their theatrical run go into Lions’ projects and charities that directly benefit residents of South Dundas.
Madam’s Been Murdered, Tea Will Be Late is set somewhere in the 1950s.
Houndstooth Manor, buried in an isolated part of the English countryside, has seen better days (as has the Fenster/Totter family, whose ancestral home it is). In fact, to make ends meet, the Ladies Fenster and their nephew Bobby have had to reluctantly take in paying “guests.”
From the elderly Major Armbrewster to the edgy spinster school teacher, Matilda Trent to the gregarious honey-mooning Americans, these guests prove to be a strange lot.
Even stranger in some ways are the “faithful” Houndstooth servants Epsworth, Madge and MacDonald, to say nothing of decidedly shady local characters like Dr. Thorndyke, Katie from next door and Jagmaster the Fishman.
Consequently, when Lady Mary turns up missing, why how’s a London copper like Inspector Milo expected to find the killer amongst this lot?
Oh and did we mention that Houndstooth Manor is probably haunted?
Comic chaos and confusion are definitely on the menu as everyone attempts to uncover the “truth” concerning the strange goings-on at Houndstooth Manor, before it’s too late.
The show runs from Thursday April 19 to Saturday April 21 at Upper Canada Playhouse with a matinee on Saturday afternoon.
Tickets for Madam’s Been Murdered, Tea Will Be Late, are available at Scotiabank, Mustard’s Variety, Upper Canada Playhouse and from Lions members.