By Darleen Thao

The new fall play Rehearsal for Murder, premiered last weekend, featuring your talented fellow Memorial students as actors and stage tech led by our skilled staff! Rehearsal for Murder was originally a movie from 1982, and it was recreated in great detail by the cast. The lead role, Alex, enters a run-down and dark theater as the eerie opening. The plot included the mystery of the leading lady’s murder which was thought to be a suicide; however, conflicts arise when her fiancé thinks otherwise and gathers old friends he suspects were involved at the scene to solve this case, disguising it as a reunion. Alex confidently conducts mind games among the group, referencing back to the day of the murder resulting in slip-ups from the group. The group was shocked when they recognized Alex’s true intentions went beyond an innocent reunion, and the underlying motive was to find the perpetrator the whole time. 

“I think it went really great … Everyone put in a lot of hard work, and we came together and had a blast doing it,” said Seth Roberts, who played the lead role. “My favorite part was definitely getting to work with all the actors. We had a lot of new talent this year; a lot of freshmen who really stepped up … we had some other people come out [as their] first time in theater and I think everyone did a really great job.”

“I had a lot of lines as the lead role … There was a scene [where] I totally cut out someone’s entrance, but the actor backstage [was] really humble about it and we just got over it,” he admits. “[That’s] kind of a lesson you have to learn in live theater, you just have to look past mistakes and push through,” Seth continued. 

The performance was brilliant and allowed the audience to absorb details and clues throughout the production. Putting the pieces together as an audience member was an amazing inclusion, enhancing the experience even further. The actors put on a great performance. Their phenomenal acting produced tension and a great reveal, and the transitions and scenes were thoughtfully implemented!

The Memorial Theater students, teachers, and tech crew did an outstanding job at developing such a detailed performance for us and they continue to amaze us as audience members. Congratulations to everyone involved and we thank you for delivering yet another great play! Stay tuned for their Comedy Weekend coming to you in February 2025!