After a critically acclaimed, award-winning run at the Sydney Fringe Festival in 2022, improvised whodunnit production Murder Village: An Improvised Whodunnit returns to Sydney for a new season at Darlinghurst’s Meraki Arts Bar.
With nearly 100 performances to its name, this hilarious Agatha Christie-style improvised show sees a new mystery made up on the spot each night. This proved a winning formula at the 2022 Fringe, where Murder Village won the Meraki Arts Bar Remount Award.
“We were so thrilled to win,” explains director David Massingham. “We’d already had a terrific season with great audience feedback, and this was just the icing on the cake.”
The 2022 season’s skilled cast of improvisers – including Amanda Buckley (The Side Project, Fires), Lliam Amor (Escape from Pretoria) and Jason Geary (Utopia) – are back for the return season, having just performed in a completely sold out run at the 2023 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
“We’re excited to once again give Sydney audiences the chance to live inside the world of an Agatha Christie novel they’ve never read,” director David Massingham says. “Murder Village creates an improvised world filled with vicars, amateur dramatic society members, and sleuths with a knack for solving murders.”
Each night’s plot uses the audience’s suggestions as inspiration, ensuring no two shows will be the same. The audience votes for each show’s murder weapon, victim and murderer by secret ballot. As such, mystery lovers get to have their say while still enjoying the chance to try to solve the crime themselves.
“Completely enthralling. ★★★★★” – Theatre People
“Unravel the perfect recipe for murder with this hilarious improvised production.” – Weekend Notes
“A hilarious piece of theatre. We shouldn’t be enjoying murder so much.” – Scenestr