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The Indiana Daily Student

arts

IU Drama Department premieres 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood'

IDS

Who murdered Edwin Drood?

The IU Department of Theatre, Drama and Contemporary Dance doesn’t know, and it needs an audience’s help to find out the ending to a play Charles Dickens was never able to finish.

The department will put on its first play of the season, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 3, and 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 4 in the Ruth N. Halls Theater.

“It is great entertainment,” Director George Pinney said. “I mean, laughs assured.”

Pinney said the musical mystery set in an English music hall in 1890 is clever, gaudy and fun. It appeals to the masses through a variety of mediums including acting, music and choreography, he said.

“Best of all, the audience gets to decide the ending,” he said.

Because Charles Dickens was ?unable to finish the story and reveal the murderer, the audience must ?decide who the culprit is, Pinney said.

“It’s a play within a play,” senior Maddie Shea Baldwin said. Baldwin plays Drood in the production.

The audience also gets to decide who the lovers are at the end of the show, Pinney said.

There is a catch, though. The two most selected characters will become lovers, no matter their ?relationship during the show.

There are seven possible murders and about 20 different pairs of ?lovers, he said.

“The endings are never the same,” senior Merle Palmer said. Palmer is the stage manager of the production.

The fact that there are so many endings means they cannot all be rehearsed every night, Pinney said.

In working on a production for only four weeks as opposed to ?a typical six to eight weeks, this is one of the biggest challenges the cast, crew and production team face.

Baldwin said the run-throughs had to start a week early, as well. Despite the time crunch, she said working on this show has been a very positive ?experience.

“I love the rehearsal process,” she said. She has been practicing since the first day of the semester.

Palmer said she has been working on the show even longer, having begun production meetings at the end of last spring.

“For me, it was my first time in this theater,” she said.

Palmer said she loves the tech process because it is her time to take charge and be able to dedicate herself to the production.

She said she loves working with the crew, which consists of students who will act in other productions, to help make a great show.

“I think we’re all really close,” Palmer said.

Working on other productions in this capacity gives you a solid appreciation of what must go on behind the scenes to make a show run smoothly, ?Baldwin said.

Some of her favorite parts of shows, however, are creating characters.

Each actor plays multiple characters, and in doing so must be able to establish a solid foundation so character distinctions don’t start to blur, she said.

“We’re all doing the same craft,” she said, explaining the community aspect of the show.

Pinney said the show serves students well because it provides for a variety of roles and allows for incredible work in set design, costume design and other technical aspects.

“The whole atmosphere is fantastic,” he said.

The costumes, set and technical aspects of the show provide students the opportunity to develop skills in different apsects of theater production.

Pinney said the audience will be greeted by cast members as they enter the theater, or the house, as if they are really coming inside of a music hall.

Baldwin said this makes people feel like part of the ensemble.

“I don’t think there’s any other show like this,” she said.

This makes the show a great introduction to the theater, Pinney said.

“The Mystery of Edwin Drood” serves as the first production in the Theatre Department’s 2014-15 season, which includes both plays and musicals.

Baldwin said she is looking forward to the audience’s energy and participation in the show, which is something rehearsals lack.

Pinney said he is excited to get the audience involved in the shows.

“The theater seats 410, and I hope we sell out every night,” he said.

Pinney said tickets are still available at the IU Auditorium box office and will be sold at the door.

“This is turning out to be an absolute gem of a musical, and I don’t say that lightly,” Pinney said.

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