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Pratt students stage who dunnit mystery
Chris Clegg
for South Peace News
Changing cast members constantly and the challenge of writing both a murder mystery and comedy play did not deter the Drama 20 class at E. W. Pratt High School from staging a first-class performance June 11.
The play ‘Clueless’, featuring a woman who murders her husband after discovering he had an affair, featured a bumbling detective who knew nothing but had his officer solve the crime.
Later, a play based on Paris Hilton’s Best Friends Forever TV show, had the audience wondering who would win before a surprise twist shocked everyone. It was called ‘Holly Dayin’s New Canadian Best Friends Forever’.
In-between the plays, Shauna Badger delivered a monologue entitled “My Blanket’. Kelly Cunningham did the same with “Day of Liberation’.
Drama teacher Chris Waldorf says the students did very well despite the obstacles placed in front of them.
“We started working on the plays at the end of March,” says Waldorf. “We made all the props.”
Hindering development was the problem not all students attended on any given day to rehearse.
And on the day of the play, Karla Lamouche, who played the integral role of Miss Morgue in “Clueless”, got sick.
“So we had Amy Lamarche play her part,” says Waldorf.
Waldorf says students arrived at the ideas for both plays.
I helped them but I didn’t write it,” she says.
“Clueless’ begins with Thomas and Alice Cooper, played by Shauna Badger and Amanda Lainchbury respectively, parting ways at breakfast. Later, when Alice picks up pizza for supper, she discovers Thomas cheating. She decides to poison him.
Later, a bumbling Inspector Bone, played by Neil Lamouche, arrives to investigate. He bumbles his way though the investigation but it is solved by his trusty sidekick, Miss Morgue, played by Amy Lamarche. Of course, Bone takes all the credit.
The monologues took place before the final play to allow time for props to be set on stage. Badger’s ‘My Blanket’ monologue told the story of a teen’s baby blanket and the special significance it had for her even at a later age. No detail was left untold as Badger recollected the special places to hold and the warmth it gave her.
Cunningham’s monologue has special significance for her. Everyone in the audience thought “Day of Liberation’ was about a woman getting out of prison. Rather, it was the day she had her braces removed. And, yes, Cunningham recently did have her braces removed.
In ‘Holly Dayin’s New Canadian Best Friends Forever’, Holly, played by Samantha Aldridge, invites a cast of characters to be her new best friend. However, the “friends” who arrive are a cast of weird characters with traits not conducive to being a friend. Some are eager to win while others could care less about being there.
Pam Tindall, playing Elvira, the Queen of the Darkness, even sticks pins into a doll. Amanda Lainchbury played Barbi, a ditzy blonde who attempted to vote herself off the show. Laura Pardell was the down-home country girl ready to lasso a new friend. An intellectual, snob and others comprised the cast.
In the end, a strange twist of fate occurs when all contestants walk of the show leaving the camera guy, played by Billy McCue, as the winner.
Waldorf credits McCue for his role.
“He’s not a drama student but we had a student drop out and move away and didn’t tell us,” says Waldorf. “We needed to fill his role and Billy filled in and played the camera guy.”
Students held two performances June 11 in the school gym.
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Shauna Badger delivered one of two monologues between the two plays. Her monologue featured a blanket.
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Alex Hautum, left, played the role of a police officer in ‘Clueless’ and arrested Alice Cooper, played by Shauna Badger.
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Pam Tindall sticks pins into a doll during ‘Holly Dayin’s New Canadian Best Friends Forever’ play. Tindall played the part of Elvira.
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Amy Lamarche, playing the role of Miss Morgue, arrests Shauna Badger, who played the role of Alice Cooper in ‘Clueless’. Miss Morgue did all the work solving the murder while Inspector Bone, not in photo, took the credit.
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The ghost of the murdered Thomas Cooper, right, played by Amanda Lainchbury, comes back to haunt Alice Cooper at trial. Sumner Giroux, left, and Emma Sanders, centre, played the role of jury members. Giroux was also a waitress at the pizza restaurant.
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