Doug Kutzli in “Murder at Mistwell Mano" at the Mockingbird on Main -- April 8 through 16.
Friday, April 8, through Saturday, April 16
The Mockingbird on Main, 320 North Main Street, Davenport IA
A world-premiering mystery comedy by one of the founders of the venue it's being performed in, Murder at Mistwell Manor will enjoy an April 8 through 16 run at Davenport venue the Mockingbird on Main, with the theatre's new stage production the latest debuting work by writer/director Tristan Tapscott.
In Murder at Mistwell Manor, what initially seems like an ordinary paint-by-numbers mystery becomes much more with each new revelation in this twisty experience that boasts one detective, two dead bodies, and three potential killers. Suspicions run wild as Detective Walters races to solve the case before someone else drops dead, and as a show synopsis states, “This past-paced original work reveals a twist or three before racing to the conclusion the audience never sees coming.”
Murder at Mistwell Manor is the most recent work created by Mockingbird co-founder Tristan Tapscott, whose previous stage scripts for both the Davenport venue and the former District Theatre in Rock Island have included adaptations of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days and Charlies Dickens' A Christmas Carol, as well as books for the musicals Deck the Halls, Big Rock Candy Mountain, and Big Rock Candy Christmas. Of his first foray into the realm of murder mysteries, Tapscott said, “I've never written something for this genre before and thought it might be a fun experiment. Are we re-inventing what theatre can do? No. Of course not. We are offering a natural escape from the chaos we are all living through.”
Tapscott also serves as his production's director, his previous credits having included directing area presentations of Godspell, Monty Python's Spamalot, and, in the mystery genre, Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap. Four area-theatre veterans, meanwhile, compose Murder at Mistwell Manor's cast: Doug Kutzli (the Mockingbird's An Enemy of the People), Jeremy Littlejohn (director of the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's Elf: The Musical), Mockingbird co-founder Savannah Bay Strandin (Circa '21's The Play That Goes Wrong), and Eric Teeter (the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's Princeton's Rage).
Murder at Mistwell Manor's Davenport engagement will run April 8 through 16 with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and admission is $15. For more information and reservations, visit TheMockingbirdOnMain.com.
