Only audience gasps and applause filled the air at the Sierra Vista High School Theatre’s performance of “Murder’s in the Heir.” The show premiered on Thursday, October 23, at 6 pm and closed on Saturday, October 25. Throughout the shows, actors and actresses explored the haunting narrative, leaving the audience in suspense at every plot twist and murderous subtlety.
Murder’s in the Heir, another classic “whodunnit” mystery, included a primarily senior cast and showcased the tremendous talent of the SVHS theatre students. The story followed the greed, jealousy, and desperation surrounding Simon Starkweather’s inheritance in light of his precarious health condition. As Simon Starkweather’s family members and household staff searched for the truth, old secrets and grudges revealed themselves, proving that the desire for money holds the power to tear even the closest family apart. Although they may tear each other apart on stage, the members of the SVHS Theatre Department form close bonds off stage that bring them close together. As Theatre Department President and Stage Manager Lee Pobre expresses, “Theatre is an insanely memorable experience regardless if you are on or backstage.” Similarly, Senior Madalyn Reiter shares how she loved “the overall connections and bonds” that she made. Reiter further explains, “I haven’t worked with some of the cast before, and it was beyond amazing to watch them grow and become more confident when performing while also becoming closer to them!”
In this interactive show, anyone could be the killer, and actors were challenged with the task of improvisation. Throughout Act I, characters left hints alluding to their potential identity as Simon Starweather’s killer. Whether it was the cook, Minerva Walker, played by Reiter, innocently cleaning her butcher knife, or Simon Starkweather’s great-niece, Paula, played by Freshman VyVyanna Santos, wandering the house with her gun, every character portrayed suspicion pointing them towards the identity of the killer. During the show’s intermission, audience members filled out tickets in their programs, indicating who they wanted to see take on the role of the killer. After the audience voted, actors found out backstage who would perform as the murderer for Act II, leaving them just minutes to adjust and putting their acting skills to the test.
Reiter comments on her experience getting voted to perform as the murderer on opening night, “I loved the snappiness about my character. It was very easy for me to flow with! I was able to make the comments I would say about everyone to be comedic and interesting throughout the show and made my character super suspicious. I was super excited to be the killer on opening night! I prepared a lot for it and was honestly jumping up and down with happiness when they said I was going to do it. I was skeptical about maybe not even getting voted the killer, but I knew that all of my little touches would have worked to make me seem more suspicious!” The big reveal towards the end of the show featured Reiter holding a red candle and an intense scene where she detailed the depths of her character’s deceit.
Senior and Theatre Department Treasurer Zaire Bryant performed as the murderer for the second showing. Bryant comments, “Something that I loved about playing Jordan was that he was money hungry, and you never knew if he was being serious or sarcastic. My experience playing the murderer was exciting but nerve-racking because I never knew what to expect each night, and I had to mentally prepare myself for it. But, it was exciting because I knew I would have fun being super mean.”
Sophomore Piper Watson played Nancy Pollard, Simon Starkweather’s maid. While Watson did not get voted to perform as the murderer, she explains, “Something that I loved playing about my character was how nervous she always is. It was so easy to take on her character because of how physical she was. In my experience, not knowing the identity of the killer until the show, I was constantly stressed and excited. It was like a rush of adrenaline every time votes were counted.”
The SVHS actors and backstage crew dedicated themselves daily to their performing arts, and they continued to do so with only a week-long break before auditioning for the late February musical, Hairspray.
