by Caroline Gentile ’13, Co-Editor-in-Chief

About 10 minutes before the show was supposed to start, I was sitting in the audience, minding my own business, when a costume-clad Emma Hoeneymeyer, ’14, approached me. “Are you excited to see The Mystery of Edwin Droooooooood?,” she asked in a flawless British accent, waving her hands around as she drew out the O in Drood. “It is a bit of a cast tradition to wave your hands about like this whenever we say ‘Drood’ during the show.” Before I could respond, all of the other cast members flooded the audience, chatting away to the other play-goers in their impeccable British accents, even going as far as to sit on their laps.

For the first few minutes, I had no idea what was going on. Once I had chatted to a few characters, though, I realized that each of them was trying to garner votes. “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” is an unfinished play, its author, Charles Dickens, having died when he was three quarters of the way through. It is the audience’s responsibility to finish it by voting on the ending, specifically, which of the characters is the murderer, the detective, and the lovers. This element of the musical makes it a very interactive and engaging theatrical experience, but it does put pressure on the actors. A cast member revealed to me that after the votes are counted and the murderer is chosen, the actor or actress only has one minute to prepare them self before going on stage.

The mystery itself is quite complicated. Edwin Drood (Holly Dayton ’13 and Sara Fitzgerald ’13), betrothed to the beautiful Rosa Budd (Annie Nesbitt ’13 and Annie Mullee ’14), disappears on a stormy Christmas Eve, and after six months, is still missing. Is he dead or alive? Who is responsible for

Drood’s disappearance? Could it be his uncle, John Jasper (Douglas Tallmadge ’14 and Ishan Ghildyal ’14)? Perhaps the mysterious foreigners, Neville and Helena Landless, portrayed by Shashank Jejurikar ’13 and Carson Aquino ’14, and seniors Allison Mesh and Molly Petre? Maybe the opium dealer, played by Rebecca Miller ’13 and Kreah Everett ’13, or the grave digger, played by juniors Luke Stacy and Victoria Paff?? While there seems to be one glaring culprit, the narrator, played by seniors Sarah Gamblin and Will Bernish, drops incriminating hints about other characters, as well. The audience certainly has plenty of choices.

Be sure to cast your vote and solve the mystery of Edwin Droooooood on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday!