02/09/2026
A Preview by Dave Murdoch
โMurderโs In The Heirโ - an intriguing, different and well presented โWhodunnitโ
A great night of entertainment lies ahead for audiences choosing to attend Dannevirke Theatre Companyโs latest production โMurderโs in the Heirโ, which is about to open at the Fountain Theatre on September 4 and runs until September 19.
It is a whodunnit with a difference involving a cast of 17 and the audience as well, which has the responsibility of determining the murderer each night.
Act One starts the play in the lounge of the Starkweather Mansion on a stormy night when ailing billionaire Simon Starkweather calls his family and staff to a meeting to tell them about their inheritance. The audience meets a great range of different characters before he appears.
Having outlined the contents of his previous will, which greatly benefitted both family and staff, he announced that on the very next day he was going to sign a new will which directed his billions to a much greater cause, leaving family and staff with mere token gifts. They were NOT IMPRESSED.
As the evening progresses into night the obvious reaction mysteriously occurs as the cast realise what was at stake. All the cast had motive, means and opportunity, the question being WHO?
The playโs author Billy St John left the outcome deliberately unsettled, leaving Director Andrew Crellen with a dilemma which he explains to the audience, saying that each viewer had to vote as to who they thought was the murderer at half time. The results are collected and processed, the character with the most votes becoming the murderer.
This is an intriguing result because as the season progresses, there can potentially be many different murderers depending on what the audience chooses. Thatโs a challenge for the cast as each has to learn a different script to suit that nightโs choice.
Act Two is then shaped by that choice and the lounge is split in two by lighting to alternately allow specially invited Private Detective Mike Davis to question the staff and family while on the other half of the lounge flashbacks are enacted out, ultimately ending in the culprit being caught.
Andrew Crellen and his team have done a marvellous job creating a big and lavish set the full width and depth the theatre will allow.
Sound and lighting create mood, even turning red when a clue is provided, thunder and lightning too real for audience comfort.
The cast has no single star, all members sharing equally the task of acting out the murder, all dressed in marvellous costumes appropriate for 1989 when the story is set.
In the Starkweather family all roles are played by talented and experienced veterans: Gerard McKay plays old Simon Starkweather, Michelle Walker plays his niece Fiona Starkweather, Zack Pickett plays his cocky great nephew Jordan Starkweather, Charlotte Patu plays Paula Thompson, his great niece, and Shaun Newell plays his grandson Simon.
The staff are packed with veterans too: the Butler Nigel Mosen, the Housekeeper Jessica Mackay, the Russian Cook Davina Graham, the Handyman Peter Sinclair, with the Maid Heather Hood a talented newbie.
Four professionals employed by Old Simon to care for his welfare include more veterans Mark Holdaway as his lawyer and Horowai Puhata-Makarini as his nurse, with Kaytlyn Pinder as his personal secretary and Thomas Barker as his private detective, the latter two wonderful additions to Dannevirke Theatre.
Director Andrew Crellen has once again brought this talented cast to a high peak already, yet still a week out from opening night. The acting skills are of high quality, including his own, the total combination of light, set and sound are an impressive package and audiences are bound to enjoy the show with the opportunity to come back and find there is a different murderer in a later performance, even several times!
The show opens on Friday September 4 with eight more shows September 5, 10, 11, 12, 13 (matinee), concluding on September 18 and 19, the latter with two shows including another matinee. You can book at iTICKET or at the Dannevirke Tararua District Council Service Desk.
The Dannevirke Theatre Company presents
Murderโs in the Heir
Directed by Andy Crellen
4 - 19 September 2026
Tickets from iticket.co.nz or the Tararua District Council Dannevirke Service Centre
An audience-interactive murder mystery comedy by Billy St. John
