Tyler Hertzler

Writer

The Marlow Outlaw Speech Team (M.O.S.T) kicked off their first activity of the year on Friday, Oct. 9 and Saturday, Oct. 10 with their annual play production.

With this year’s production being “Who Murdered Who?,” the students and community were able to enjoy a comedy set in the present about a man named Gould Trevor who receives a threatening note from an unknown source warning of his future demise, later going on to investigate who sent the letter to find his potential killer before it is too late.

Many actors and actresses from M.O.S.T. contributed in the play such as junior Matthew Derichsweiler playing Gould Trevor, sophomore Bryce Duncan playing Willie Trippitt, senior Elena Holguin playing Jennie Marks, sophomore Morgan Warren playing Camilla Foreman, senior Savanah Triplett playing Mrs. “Kit” Stropp, junior Gracie McMains playing Roxy Brenner, senior Melissa Cooper playing Veda Arthur and sophomore Karsten Terrell playing Dr. Elliott Gravesend.

Although this play is significantly shorter than previous productions due to COVID-19 precautions, the charisma and fun were still as prevalent as ever.

Starting his first year in M.O.S.T.,  junior Matthew Derichsweiler expressed his opinion on his character and the production of the play.

“My character is a little frantic. He’s worried about a letter he receives telling him that he is about to be murdered, and it leads him to be paranoid about anyone or anything that could be the thing that kills him,” Derichsweiler described. “I like that I can put emotion into him. I get to yell a lot, and I like to yell, so I get to add some volume and add some expressiveness to my character.”

Derichsweiler also went on to express his thoughts on the production process of the play.

“Production went really well,” stated Derichsweiler. “We have an amazing cast this year who put a lot of effort into it, and it ran very smoothly. I was very happy with the production and the play itself this year.”

Also adding his thoughts and opinions, sophomore Bryce Duncan, who played Willie Trippitt, described his character and the story.

“Willie Trippitt is a very curious person. He is a very energetic detective who thinks everything is a clue and just needs to figure out what is going on,” Duncan explained. “I love the energy that he has, he is just so there, and I love being able to just make people laugh by doing more.”

Duncan also expressed his gratitude to the people that helped make the production go as smooth as possible.

“Production has been phenomenal. The stage looked amazing, the lights and sound crew did a fantastic job along with the actors, the people on set and the student director. Everyone did an amazing job.”

Adding a more experienced view of opinions, senior Elena Holguin expressed her thoughts on her character and the production of the play.

“My character is very country girl-ish. She is really funny. She gets really scared. She’s really cute. She is kind of timid about the whole situation because she thinks that she is going to get murdered. I love that my character doesn’t know what’s coming next,” said Holguin. “She doesn’t ever have a guess as to what the next sentence is going to be or when the next gunshots are going to be. Everything is just crazy and wild to her, and she’s so scared that she screams her head off all the time. It’s just so much fun trying to play someone that is such a creative and wacky person.”

Also adding a more experienced opinion Holguin describes the production of the play. 

“Production went really well. All of us have bonded together as a cast family. It’s always fun to see each of us come closer with the crew members and the cast members, and I think everyone did really well with the part they were given. I think that everyone showed such grace, and everyone did extraordinary with their part.”

Although this play was shorter than previous shows, it still required many hours of hard work to make it happen, including the implementation of safety precautions such as social distancing and mask requirements in order to attend the performance.

Leading the production this year was student director, senior Jaiden Standridge.

The student director is responsible for helping lead director and head of the Marlow Drama Department Paula McConnell set the stage, coordinate the actors, and help with promotion and ticket sales.

Having to abide with the new precautions, Standridge explained her concerns on the virus.

“It was difficult to a degree. With this being a theatrical performance, there were times when the actors needed to get close to one another and the mask made it somewhat difficult to breathe due to the hot temperature of the actor’s breath when they spoke.”

Although COVID-19 was a concerning factor in the production of the play, Standridge believed that it was still a great achievement.

“In my opinion, I believe it was a wonderful success, especially since there was no guarantee that the show would happen at all.”

Overall, the Marlow Drama Department was very happy with the result of the production and are ready to prepare for their contest season.