“You Have the Right to Remain Dead”

You+Have+the+Right+to+Remain+Dead

Erica Hurst

Tension.  Murder. Technical Difficulties.  All are signs of a dynamite interactive play, such as BIC Drama’s latest production You Have the Right to Remain Dead.

 

A group of eccentric thespians are putting on a play (yes, a play within the play), during which the play’s narrator Harnell Chesterton, played by Seth Stovall, is mysteriously killed.  From there on out, everyone is a suspect, even the audience. The characters in the frame story quickly drop their act in attempt to save their own skin. You Have the Right to Remain Dead is, impressively, packed with fun in only its ten amusing characters.

 

Ajax Conroy, played by Eli Teeter, is a seasoned actor with some previous run-ins with the law.  Arnold and Dorris Trumble–played by Jonathan Bachelor and Katie Fry–are a divorced couple with some lingering feelings toward each other, positive and negative.  Leigh Dorsett (Kayla Towell) is a simple woman with simple pleasures. Not to forget Steve Randall (Lane Luther) who may not be as level-headed as he seems; Lois Jacobson (Faith Bachelor) who seems to catch attention wherever she goes; Trudy Marsh (Brianna Enmon), a trusted sound technician;  and Officer Bainbridge (Justin Rhoades), the policeman in charge of all the suspects.

 

This play was the first major role Rhoades has ever been assigned.

 

“It was certainly a challenge to memorize all those lines.  When I first started I was intimidated by all the words I was in charge of, but by the end of rehearsals I would read through and realize I knew it all,” said Rhoades.

 

You Have the Right to Remain Dead was the second production put on by the BIC Drama Club this year, but it was equally well-received by the community and school.  Emily Hampton, a sophomore, was able to see the play in a showing during the school day on Monday.

 

“I liked how the play was interactive with the audience.  Throughout the play, I stayed interested and I was constantly trying to guess who the killer was.  The ending was really shocking!” Hampton said.

 

At the end of the day, You Have the Right to Remain Dead was the perfect play to end the year on.  The only negative feeling the audience had leaving the Melody Theatre was sadness that it was over.  Until next time, BIC can rest easy knowing that there is always a group of wacky thespians to solve crime.