Children's theatre brings classic board game to life

Clue, the board game, will come to life Friday night at the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts.

This year for their annual Murder Mystery, Bigfork Playhouse Children’s Theatre director Brach Thomson adapted the well-known board game into an interactive show that will make the audience detectives and feature a few twists. 

The plot concerns a murder at Mr. Boddy’s mansion, and the victim, who is quite used to this role, will guide viewers through the show, leading them to clues as to who killed him, with what, and in what room.

Each performance will be different, as the cards, like the ones from the board game, will be drawn on stage at the start of the show. Only Mr. Boddy will know the outcome, leaving theatre-goers to try to solve the mystery.

“I hope the audience will get a kick out of it, that it could be someone different every night,” Thomson said.

The cast for the show is just 20 members, and will feature plenty of new faces in the lead roles of the suspects. Watching those young actors develop their characters is one of the highlights of the show for Thomson.

“It’s a little bit tougher because they actually have to create a character,” Thomson said. “I think it gives the kids who are acting an opportunity to play characters who have more depth.”

Thomson adapted the script from the Clue Musical by Peter DePietro to better fit the Children’s Theatre, and decided to write an original score and lyrics for the show.

Audiences should come ready to be entertained, to solve a mystery and expect the unexpected. “It’s going to have twists they don’t realize,” Thomson said.

Performances will be at the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts on Nov. 7th, 8th, 14th, & 15th, at 7:30 p.m. with a Sunday Matinee on Nov. 9 at 2:00.  Special ticket prices on Wednesday Nov. 5 and Nov. 6.  All tickets purchased these two days are only $6 for any performance. The box office is open from 2:30-5:30 for special ticket prices days.

Ticket prices are $11 adults, $9 for Seniors, $8 for Students and $7 for children under 10 and can be purchased online anytime or at the Box Office one hour prior to performances. Call 837-4886 or email bpct@bigforksummerplayhouse.com.