It’s a dark and stormy night, and you’ve been invited to a very unusual dinner party. Each of the guests has an alias, the butler offers a variety of weapons, and the host is, well…dead. So whodunnit?

After much anticipation, The Theatre Program is finally back with its first in-person play since the COVID-19 pandemic, Clue

Based on the iconic 1985 movie inspired by the original Hasbro board game, Clue is a farce, murder mystery. A farce uses crude characterizations and ‘ludicrously improbable situations’ to entertain the audience.

”I think this show is very interesting because not only is there a movie, but also a board game on it, so it’s very cool that we get to incorporate all these elements in it,” said Maite Villalobos, a Junior crew member and ‘Prop Master’. 

Last year, all plays were performed through Zoom. Abi Smith, a senior cast member, said “Zoom plays were a really good experience”, but “is just so good to be back on the actual stage”

Mrs. Fry, the director of the theatre program said “With the success of our improvised murder mystery play last year, The Former and the Lauder, it seems the audience was really into murder mysteries. I also wanted to do a comedy, so Clue was the answer!” 

However, the theatre program is still faced with many challenges due to current COVID restrictions. 

In a normal school year, parent volunteers take a big part in helping set construction and other behind-the-scenes work. However, because of this year’s limit, “it’s all students that are really building this set…and it’s a huge set” said Fry. 

A lot of work has been put in for this year’s play. “We have rehearsals until 5-5:30 PM each day, at least 7 PM during tech week, and 10 PM for shows,” said Abi Agola, a freshmen cast member.

In addition to rehearsals at school, “we have work parties over the weekend,” said Ashni Pothineni, a senior assistant crew manager. 

“With COVID restrictions it’s been rather slow, but we’ve been pushing through it to give the best possible show for our audience,” said Pothineni.

Mrs. Fry explained why ticket sales are so important for the theatre program:

”It is not well known, but everything we do in the Theatre program at Skyline is self-sustaining, everything we build, purchase, and perform is fully supported by the theatre students,” said Fry.

“We don’t get money from the district, the building, or ASB, everything we do is supported by our ticket sales. That’s why it’s so important for people to come to our shows.”

As a closing note, students in the theatre program invite everyone to come to the show:

“We encourage anyone that has gone through a tough time to come and let go and have fun,” said Pothineni.

“We’ve been working very hard on it and working to recover from such a hard time period,” said Smith.

“Be ready to laugh, we all laughed during rehearsals.”

The play will be on November 9, 10, 12, and 13 from 7-8:45 PM each night. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $5 for Skyline staff and students, and $10 for anyone else. Rated PG-13.