'The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940'

Kicking off the 2011 season, Thomas McGuire, director, describes the Playcrafters first show, "The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940," as “Agatha Christie meets Scooby Doo.”

The play takes place in the mansion library of Elsa Von Grossenkneuten in Chappaqua, NY. The time is dead-of-winter 1940 during an epic snowstorm.

The plot revolves around the cast and crew of a New York City musical production company--notorious for producing flops--traveling to West Chester County to put on a “backers play” to win the approval of the well-heeled financial backer, Von Grossenkneuten.

It is established early in Scene One that there is a murderer in the mansion. From there, the plot twists and turns as the group realizes that they have been brought together for the purpose of unwittingly luring the elusive “stage door slasher,” whom local and international authorities have been seeking to capture.

The all-volunteer cast portrays each character as sharp and witty as they are deeply poignant and flawed. Each character has a unique persona that is superbly executed by the local thespians. Many of the cast plays more than one character, and in some scenes, more than two or three regional accents.

McGuire first directed this play, based on several 1940s' mystery movies including "The Cat and the Canary," back in 1988 at LaSalle University.

The show’s producer Gay Hoyle designs a wonderful and realistic mansion library setting that incorporates revolving walls, hidden closets and movable bookshelves that allow the cast of this funny and mysterious drama to unravel. Most recently, Hoyle was director of last year’s British pantomime, "Aladdin."

The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 started March 31 and continues to April 16. See the Playcrafters of Skippack for more details and a schedule of upcoming shows.