Sink! A Titanic Murder Mystery

Poster by student F.E.

Length: 90 mins – 2 hours

Casting: 12 or 24 or 15+

A murder mystery inside a murder mystery inside a murder mystery inside a murder mystery. Makes for a night to remember.

SYNOPSIS: We begin on the Titanic. An ideal setting for a murder mystery, don’t you think? First class. A widow, a magnate, two young lovers, a grifter, a confirmed bachelor, and Tennessee Blossom, close personal friend of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, along with the White Star staff are in a room. One of them ends up dead. The iceberg is a convenient distraction. Then, the captain’s orders: no murderers allowed on the lifeboats. The game’s afoot with a mystery that must be solved before the ship goes down…

And then, something starts to shift. The characters begin to sing. We learn we are actually backstage at a Broadway show based on a Titanic. A private eye is visiting. And one of the actors ends up dead. It’s a noir.

And then, another shift as a film director yells ‘cut….’ It’s a ’90’s murder-of-the-week mystery. The director winds up dead.

And then, another shift. It’s a true crime podcast. And then someone collapses….

WHY THIS PLAY: It’s bonkers. On the last ‘level’ of mystery, the characters are named after the actors, but not the actors that play them. The multiple levels keep the audience on their toes, but the mysteries are fully solvable by the (late) intermission. On the surface it’s a traditional locked-room mystery comedy. Below that, the play seeks to examine the construction of murder mysteries themselves, the drive to stage and imagine murder, even how issues of class and gender impact the genre, and what it says about us. It intentionally evokes, calls into question, and/or subverts Sherlock Holmes, film noir / The Maltese Falcon, Columbo and Murder She Wrote, Clue, even the true crime media like the Serial Podcast.

“ This play is incredibly fun. It balances a large cast and lots of characters with a really compelling and cohesive arc. I found it entertaining and satisfying. ”

Published by Stage Partners. Read it there or via NPX. Questions? Contact Briandanieloglesby(at)gmail.com.