Redneck twist to an interactive whodunit.

by Katie Vaughn - October 21, 2006

We've all met a few shady characters over cocktails. But wouldn't it be fun to find out what motives lurked within them or discover what underhanded actions they took?

It's a Mystery provides that opportunity with evenings of interactive murder mystery theater. Since the company began offering mysteries in 1996, it has followed a basic template, said Scott Naumann, who runs the operation with his wife, Shelly.

"Guests arrive over cocktails and meet the characters," Naumann said. "They begin to get a taste of the setting and the direction of the plot. However, much of this also sets up the misdirection we capitalize on later."

The latest production, 'Murder in the Double-Wide' opened Sept. 15 and runs again this Friday, and monthly through January, at The Lodge in Bettendorf. Set in the fictional Chatagoochacola Falls trailer park, the mystery features a plot and cast filled with comedy and stereotypes, Naumann said.

"This is a true redneck trailer whodunit," he said.

Naumann said he always strives to find a setting where rich characters and stereotypes to play with are abundant.

"What better than the trashiest of trailer parks in the south?" Naumann said. "This setting just seemed ripe with strong personalities and passionate, but sometimes simple, causes."

Action centers on Flemm Hockin, a trailer park resident with a terminal disease who rents a banquet hall for his funeral dinner. However, when the date rolls around and Flemm is still alive, he decides to hold a 'life celebration' dinner instead, Naumann said.

All the characters - including Pastor Prime, mysterious drifter Margarita Conchita, and the bickering Pooter Ann and Ol' Lurleene Louise - have murderous motives, Naumann said, but no one is suspected until the body of double-wide owner Philbin Scudwaller is found.

It's up to Sheriff Buster Douglas to solve the crime, unless murder mystery guests do so first, Naumann said.

And guests have plenty of opportunities to piece together clues and hear characters' comments firsthand. They sit at round tables of eight to 10 in the dinning room, as the action takes place round them.

"The performance takes place in and around the guests," Naumann said. "Rather than theater in the round, It's been referred to as 'theater of the among.'"

Guests are not given specific lines in the drama, Naumann said, but do play a role as characters interact with them physically and verbally.

"Sometimes they may even be asked to vouch for the innocence of a beautiful suspect," Naumann said of the guests. "'I couldn't have killed him... I was with Jerry here... all afternoon. Right, Jerry?' Of course, Jerry's wife sometimes interjects too."

Not only do these interactions enhance the comedic nature of the productions, but they also make each performance unique, Naumann said.

"The guests do not play any characters, but always provide comedic elements just be being themselves," he said. "The audience variable is the richest, most potent spice in the recipe."

Naumann said the combination of crime-solving, conversations and comedy offers something for any guest to enjoy.

"If a guest wants to come and watch without trying to solve the crime, they'll be fine," Naumann said. "Guests opening night left saying, 'I don't care whodunit, my cheeks hurt from laughing all night.'"

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