Pittsburgh Arts, Regional Theatre, New Work, Producing, Copyright, Labor Unions,
New Products, Coping Skills, J-O-Bs...
Theatre industry news, University & School of Drama Announcements, plus occasional course support for
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumni.
CMU School of Drama
Monday, August 28, 2023
A Big Trend at This Year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe? Murder Mysteries
Playbill: Shouting breaks the silence on a quiet street in a language that's unrecognizable. Neighbors find a flat in disarray, a bloodied razor, and a brutal double murder. Who—or what—could have done something like this?
4 comments:
Jessica Williams
said...
I absolutely and completely adore Murder Mysteries. I have to imagine the reason for this everlasting love of the genre is due to the fact that I love horror stories and I love character studies. The horror comes in the form of both the murder itself as well as in the form of having to examine the gory details of the taking of another human being’s life to try to work out whodunnit. I also love the character study aspect of them. They usually have a menagerie of characters who all have surface level definable traits that make each of them easier to identify among the others but, as the story and investigation progresses both the detective and the audience must delve deeper into their psyche’s to determine whether or not they are guilty, revealing how similar these possible murderers are to us which exposes and forces an even greater level of horror, although more of the psychological genre than gore.
I appreciate the changing trend in theatre from what we have always done (A Doll’s House, Romeo and Juliet, Anything Goes, etc.) into a new generation of theatre. Edgar Allen Poe: Murder in the Rue Morgue ushers in a new wave of theatre where the classics are not the only thing that we can perform. This makes space in the community for other stories to be told, stories that can improve challenge us as artists and help those in the world around us. I also think that this opens the door for us to be more creative with our work. This new genre of show opens the flood gates of new ways to invent in the world of theatre and brings new challenges for us to dive into. It also may allow more people to find space for themselves in theatre that did not feel like they had space in the field before.
I didn’t realize that murder mysteries were a trend for the Edinburgh Fringe this year! I am a bit disappointed that they didn’t go into depth about the story of Edgar Allan Poe: Murder in the Rue Morgue, as it seems quite interesting (I’ll have to do some research on it). Though I was excited to see that they incorporated humor, as I think morbid humor can be a great way to broaden the audience of a murder mystery, as well as simply make it more interesting. My dad is an author of murder mysteries, so a morbid sense of humor is familiar in my household. I agree with Webster’s comments about a common thread of interest in mysteries. Mystery appears constantly in media, even if it’s not labeled “mystery.” From an action movie plot ‘solving the case,’ to true crime tv shows, to even the subtle mystery of who left the guy’s ice cream cake out of the freezer to melt in Great British Bake Off, the suspense and intrigue seems to be a drawing force for many an audience member. It seems our brains love trying to figure them out, and being ‘a step ahead’ of the plot. Whether its our curiosity or the narcissistic egos of ours, who knows, but we’re all partial wannabe detectives.
I’m also a fan of mysteries, and the show title does intrigue me. One thing that kind of touched me, though, was when Webster talked about how “it is easier to sell a classic show or a show with a recognisable IP than a new piece of writing”. Despite how much we don’t want to admit, it is the unfortunate truth. But there isn’t anything inferior about using a recognisable IP because it has its own challenges, such as continuing the character development and ensuring the integrity has not shifted. Personally, I am a fan of Agatha Christie’s novels, so any stage adaptations automatically have my interest. Edgar Allen Poe was also a master in horror mysteries, so I can definitely see why that was a selling point. Also, yes, people nowadays are so into murder mysteries and crime. If you look on any podcast platforms, you’ll find that the most popular shows are almost always about true crimes. This is an interesting ongoing trend to be an eye out for sure.
4 comments:
I absolutely and completely adore Murder Mysteries. I have to imagine the reason for this everlasting love of the genre is due to the fact that I love horror stories and I love character studies. The horror comes in the form of both the murder itself as well as in the form of having to examine the gory details of the taking of another human being’s life to try to work out whodunnit. I also love the character study aspect of them. They usually have a menagerie of characters who all have surface level definable traits that make each of them easier to identify among the others but, as the story and investigation progresses both the detective and the audience must delve deeper into their psyche’s to determine whether or not they are guilty, revealing how similar these possible murderers are to us which exposes and forces an even greater level of horror, although more of the psychological genre than gore.
I appreciate the changing trend in theatre from what we have always done (A Doll’s House, Romeo and Juliet, Anything Goes, etc.) into a new generation of theatre. Edgar Allen Poe: Murder in the Rue Morgue ushers in a new wave of theatre where the classics are not the only thing that we can perform. This makes space in the community for other stories to be told, stories that can improve challenge us as artists and help those in the world around us. I also think that this opens the door for us to be more creative with our work. This new genre of show opens the flood gates of new ways to invent in the world of theatre and brings new challenges for us to dive into. It also may allow more people to find space for themselves in theatre that did not feel like they had space in the field before.
I didn’t realize that murder mysteries were a trend for the Edinburgh Fringe this year! I am a bit disappointed that they didn’t go into depth about the story of Edgar Allan Poe: Murder in the Rue Morgue, as it seems quite interesting (I’ll have to do some research on it). Though I was excited to see that they incorporated humor, as I think morbid humor can be a great way to broaden the audience of a murder mystery, as well as simply make it more interesting. My dad is an author of murder mysteries, so a morbid sense of humor is familiar in my household. I agree with Webster’s comments about a common thread of interest in mysteries. Mystery appears constantly in media, even if it’s not labeled “mystery.” From an action movie plot ‘solving the case,’ to true crime tv shows, to even the subtle mystery of who left the guy’s ice cream cake out of the freezer to melt in Great British Bake Off, the suspense and intrigue seems to be a drawing force for many an audience member. It seems our brains love trying to figure them out, and being ‘a step ahead’ of the plot. Whether its our curiosity or the narcissistic egos of ours, who knows, but we’re all partial wannabe detectives.
I’m also a fan of mysteries, and the show title does intrigue me. One thing that kind of touched me, though, was when Webster talked about how “it is easier to sell a classic show or a show with a recognisable IP than a new piece of writing”. Despite how much we don’t want to admit, it is the unfortunate truth. But there isn’t anything inferior about using a recognisable IP because it has its own challenges, such as continuing the character development and ensuring the integrity has not shifted. Personally, I am a fan of Agatha Christie’s novels, so any stage adaptations automatically have my interest. Edgar Allen Poe was also a master in horror mysteries, so I can definitely see why that was a selling point. Also, yes, people nowadays are so into murder mysteries and crime. If you look on any podcast platforms, you’ll find that the most popular shows are almost always about true crimes. This is an interesting ongoing trend to be an eye out for sure.
Post a Comment