Hire our Mystery actors for a combo production, a basic production or a full production.

            Three Ways to Present Our Plays . . .

Any Murder theme play can be 'executed' with any of the above 3 formats. Our Detective is the one required actor for ALL of these formats. The PRICE RANGE WILL VARY, depending on which of the 3 formats you choose. The number of professional actors we use for a client's show booking is the primary difference between costs of these 3 versions.

The level of INTERACTION is dictated by you, our client. A brief phone chat will help us better assess your needs and what will fit the mood and personalities of your guests.

1. "Full Production"

This is the easiest version for you to book. Just relax and leave the entire execution of the play up to us. Simply show up for cocktails and dinner, schmooze with your guests and let the mystery unfold. A "Full Production" means we supply the detective and all the actors whom are all seasoned professionals that work full-time appearing in Movies, TV, and Commercials. (Our actors are not part-time "wanna-be" actors that work full-time in another profession and then volunteer occasionally for free acting roles in community theaters.)

Our actors stay in character 100% of the time as they mingle with your guests. They arrive along with your guests and begin roaming about the room as they engage in interesting, bizarre, and humorous conversations. At dinner, these actors will spread out in the room and sit amongst your guests as everyone eats dinner and probes in solving the mystery. One at a time, each actor becomes the focus of the interrogation and will be put on the "hot seat".

2. "Combo Production"

A Combo Production means we will supply anywhere from 2 to 5 actors for your play. The "Detective" part is always supplied for all 3 versions of our plays, so he counts as the first actor. You will provide actors from your own guest list to fill the roles for which ever actors we don't supply. We can offer pointers to help you decide how to match guests' personalities and skill levels with each role.

Scripts are given to your actors about one week prior to the performance. They don't need to memorize lines, but are recommended to read through their short scripts about 15 or 20 times in order to get familiar with their dialogue.

FREE COACHING! Your actors can call our office, for additional coaching or a pep talk about the part they will play. Usually, 5 or 10 minutes of a phone conversation will do the trick.

ABOVE: Detective Max Spahn is seen "sparring" with suspects in a COMBO PRODUCTION featuring two volunteer actors supplied by our client.

3. "Basic Production" or "Team Building" version

Our Basic Productions are primarily used for Team Building events. We provide a Detective who acts as the facilitator and MC to keep the play flowing smoothly with all your volunteer actors. ALL OF THE MAJOR roles are provided by you. The Detective interacts with guests, encourages audience participation, and is skilled at the art of "ad-lib humor" when relating to all their questions and answers. We recommend you assign parts to extroverted type people who are not shy. Remind your volunteer actors that these plays are designed to be fun, with an equal balance of serious mystery as well as humor, ad libs and even wisecracks - as long as they get a laugh from the audience!

Experience has taught us that a Basic Production does not work as well for private, small parties such as birthdays. The quality of ALL the actors is beyond our control, and if none of your volunteer actors are entertaining enough, then the whole play will never reach its full potential. Our Detective is a seasoned pro, but this would be similar to a world-class chef being handed a kitchen full of inferior food and equipment: that would result in a less than perfect dinner! However, if your party hires 2-3 of our actors, the volunteer actors YOU provide will usually do a much better job since they will see how the professional actors do their roles! This is why a combo production works so much better for private, small parties.


RIGHT: Volunteer actors supplied by our client for "The Gatsby Murder"

Time Duration of the Mystery Play...

We will fit into your time frame!

Murder Mystery plays consist of two-acts, but they can also be presented as one continuous act (without break) or shortened if
you have a limited time schedule.

Act I lasts approximately 45 minutes and after a 10-15 minute break, Act II lasts about 25-30 minutes. The actual length may vary from one performance to the next, depending on the number of questions raised by your dinner guests and other adlib fun stuff. The Murder Mystery concludes with climactic music as the perpetrator is arrested, handcuffed, and led out of the room.

Our plays are cleverly written with an "elastic format" that allows room for adding or removing a character to fit within certain time requirements. This does not alter the quality of the plot. Generally, smaller audiences of 15 to 35 guests will be fully entertained with a FULL PRODUCTION of 4 instead of 5 professional actors. Or, our clients can make up the difference of that fifth actor by selecting one of their own guests to be a volunteer actor.

NOTE: There is not time enough in a typical play to introduce more than 5 primary suspects to your guests. Experience has proven that audiences just can't follow or stay interested in confusing plots that use 10, 15 or 20 suspects. We WANT our guests to be able to solve the crime!! All too many of our competitors forget this golden rule as they try to impress you that "more is better". We like to give our audience sufficient time to learn about the personalities of suspects and be able to evaluate their motives.