Sept. 13 – Oct. 6, Wade James Theatre, 950 Main St., Edmonds

Fall may not start officially until Sept. 22, but with the chill in the air, school back in session and pumpkin spice making a Starbucks comeback, it’s starting to feel like spooky season. There is no better way to celebrate than by catching the Driftwood Players’ Murder Inn.

The house music before the show and during intermission sets the stage, with favorites like Psycho Killer, Hotel California and the theme song for the movie Halloween.

When a storm forces a tour group seeing the Ghosts and Ghouls of New England to make an unscheduled stop at the Barnsley, an unfortunate situation goes from bad to worse. What looks to be an unpleasant and uncomfortable detour soon turns into a night of mayhem and madness as knives begin to pop up…in the most unexpected places. As the storm builds and the body count rises, the survivors try to figure out whether the inn’s purported poltergeist, Marco, with a penchant for knives, is behind the murders or if someone from among them is to blame.

Everyone in the cast seems to have something to hide, and each character’s unique quirks provide tons of laughs for the audience.

The inn proprietor, Martha Talbot (Rachael Risbell Walters), seems disgruntled by the unexpected guests. She tells them repeatedly that the inn’s poltergeist, Marco, “don’t like guests this time of year!” Does Marco dislike guests, or does Martha have some reason to keep the guests away?

Hippy Dippy new age enthusiast Muriel Lampmann (Codie Wyatt) decides to contact Marco using an Ouija board. Her character provides a lot of laughs, such as when she tries to picture a beach when she’s in the midst of a panic attack. Dry Doris Brooks (Jeanine Early) later says, “Where does Muriel keep the beach?” in a moment of suspense. Lampmann seems ridiculous, but is it all an act?

Doris Brooks and Grace Sharp (Jennifer Nielsen) are the Mrs. Marple-like lady detectives of the show. They seem elderly and innocent, but do they have something to hide?

The hilarious Donald Schultz (Thomas A. Glass) just wants to sleep, but is he actually tired, or is he using his nap time to sneak around?

The entire cast brings it all to the table. Quiet son of the owner Jake Talbot (Adam Nyhoff), insufferable Agnes Tate (Ingrid Sanai Buron), Agnes’s niece Carolyn Pickett (Olivia Alderton), tour guide Ellen Halsey (Tina Devrin), smitten Patricia Simpson (Carol Richmond), hilarious laugher Todd Currier (Landon Whitbread) and Lawrence Currier (David Hayes), a perpetually quoting professor, work together to keep the audience laughing and guessing.

Making Murder Inn even more exciting is that the playwrights, Kieth McGregor and Howard Voland, are local. The show debuted at Monroe’s Off the Wall Theatre on Apr. 28, 2000. The director, David Alan Morrison, set the show in the year 2000 as an homage. Many of the original cast were in the audience for opening night decked out in T-shirts from the original production. McGregor, who died earlier this year, was honored with a photo on the set’s wall.

You can’t go wrong with a show at Driftwood. Every seat in the house is a good seat! Get your tickets (between $25 and $28) here. 

Content Information: This production has been deemed as appropriate for all audiences. However, it contains some mild adult themes, weapons and alcohol, as well as references to the supernatural.

Run Time: this production is anticipated to be two hours, plus a 15-minute intermission.

— By Elizabeth Murray

Elizabeth Murray is a freelance writer thankful to call Edmonds home. When she’s not busy wrangling her two kids (and husband), you can find her playing ukulele. She can be reached at elmm22@gmail.com.