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Located deep in the back parking lot of Mariners Church, the CdM drama department put on a show like no other. Instead of the usual venue, their creative approach to bringing their hard work to life was creating a drive-in movie experience for the audience. Partnering with JR Productions, the cast filmed their production of “Clue” with sets edited into the background and beautiful costumes. They projected their show onto two big screens, and towards the end, the cast acted live on-stage in the front.

“Clue” is a comedic show full of murder and mystery. The story takes place in a remote mansion where six guests assemble for a dinner party. The night takes a turn when their host, Mr. Boddy (Jeremy Tewarie), appears to have been killed, turning everyone into a suspect. Trapped by blackmail in the mansion until they can figure out the killer, the characters do everything they can to keep their secrets safe and try not to be the next one missing. Throughout the play, the audience gets to know the lively and distinct characters while trying to find out who, what, and where the murders are. Wadsworth (Seth Trachtman) is the formal British butler who keeps the game running while Yvette (Morgan Savage), the jumpy French maid, tries to keep everyone from suspecting her secret aspirations. The six dinner guests consist of charming Professor Plumb (Cole Hendrickx), eccentric Mrs. Peacock (Ella Avital), witty Miss Scarlett (Ashleigh Weinstock), mysterious Mrs. White (Alaina Gauss), pompous Colonel Mustard (Tom Eastman), and anxious Mr. Green (AJ Plumb). As the story progresses, the audience starts to realize that all of the characters are guilty, except for Mr. Green, who is an undercover FBI agent.

Student Ella Avital who played Mrs. Peacock gave an inside scoop of the behind the scenes of the play. When Avital was asked how she thinks the play went considering the situation she replied, “I think considering the circumstances and measures we had to take, the performance of Clue was as good as it could’ve been. While we are deprived of our stage and ability to closely act with one another, we quickly adapted and transitioned into a virtual show with the use of a green screen. We are looking forward to the future where we can revert to our old times and take advantage of our stage vs relying on someone to edit, but I think we maneuvered through it as well as we possibly could’ve with good attitudes and hope we can be back in the theatre relatively soon!” Avital’s favorite part of this unique experience was “probably getting to rehearse with each other, making memories and just having somewhere to go after hours of zoom school.” Responding to how the behind the scenes of how the play worked, Avital said “behind the scenes was a lot of stop-and-go, we could only film 2 actors at a time so we would have to redo some scenes 3 or 4 times to make sure everyone’s part was right. We were there till really late trying to make sure the whole show got taped.” Since the Coronavirus impacted the traditional way to create the play, the cast had to take a lot of safety precautions throughout the process. Avital said “We took several safety measures to ensure all the students were comfortable and safe while filming. We wore masks at all times except filming. While filming without masks, we stood in between plexiglass barriers so we were socially distanced and safe. Then as soon as we finished a scene, the masks would go back on and we would continue with the filming!” Overall, the cast had a great experience filming it, as did the people watching it.