A two-act murder mystery play will be coming to the Bert Church Theatre in May that will leave viewers shocked, entertained, and left asking who did it?
The answer: Bert Church High School students.
The play is called Memento Mori, a latin phrase for ‘remember that you shall die’, and it will run for three shows from May 9-11. The shows are entirely acted, directed, written, and produced by Bert Church High School drama students.
“When a blizzard traps a group of strangers in a bar in the middle of nowhere, they have to work together to uncover the bloodthirsty monster before they’re all killed. With tensions rising and flimsy evidence, will they be able to figure out the whodunnit before their clock runs out?” reads the show synopsis.
“We rewrote this play from last year when we put this on, so it's kind of a revised version and it's way better,” said director Natalie Purdue, a Grade 11 student in the Bert Church drama department. “We're all very excited. It's the first time we've all done something like this.”
Purdue said that the student-produced show was attempted last year, but this year’s production has been revised and rewritten, omitting plot holes and giving the show a more structured feel overall.
According to the young director, the entire cast and crew are quite excited, with many of them jumping into their production roles for the first time. “It's definitely a learning experience, which is a good thing,” the director said. “I'm very happy to be in the role that I am and I'm sure everyone else is. It's a good opportunity.”
The Bert Church drama department put on another show earlier this year, a production of Beauty and the Beast, where Purdue worked tech. Now she hops into the director’s chair. “We all have high hopes,” she said. “Everyone has put in so much work and…we're all very excited.”
Showtimes run at 7:00 pm for May 9 and 10, with the final show going on at 2:00 pm on May 11. Tickets cost $15 for regular admission and $10 for seniors and students. Tickets go on sale April 25 and can be purchased at tickets.airdrie.ca.
