Wining and dying

Winery murder mystery comes to Mount Tabor Playhouse

When a winery co-owner goes missing just before the party to celebrate the winery’s award-winning sparkling wine, and is then found dead in the cellar, the list of suspects grows with each revelation of his duplicitous dealings. That’s the premise behind Katherine Albers’ comedic Wining and Dying, now being staged by Prince Edward Community Theatre at the Mount Tabor Playhouse in Milford. Director Deb Smith received the playwright’s permission to change all location references so that the play is set in a (fictitious) County winery, and even goes so far as to name-check a few local characters to provide a bit of authenticity—and a laugh or two. Ms. Smith has been involved in County theatre since she retired here about five years ago, and was looking to stage another comedy after the success of Clue: Onstage last year. One of the board members drew her attention to Wining and Dying, and Ms. Smith embraced the opportunity to stage this murder mystery with more twists that a 50-year-old grapevine.

The play centres around Diamond Vineyard, which has just won a coveted trophy for its Crackling Rosie sparkling wine. Vineyard co-owner Aimee is passionate about wine, and has inherited the vineyard from her deceased parents, who emigrated from France. Aimee’s older and irresponsible sister Desiree is newly single and has arrived from France for the celebration party, as has Antoine, a purported wine critic from Le Monde. Six other characters make their appearance before a body is discovered in the cellar and Detective Jules Christie arrives to investigate. As the play evolves, the list of suspects with motive and opportunity becomes longer, with nine of the characters saying “I could have killed him!” The final 10 minutes of the play reveals who held “the smoking gun”, and the bodies begin to pile up, leaving the audience with the question “Will they get away with murder?”

It’s an ensemble cast of 11, and there’s a mix of veteran community theatre actors and relative newcomers. Ms. Smith said it was a challenge to fit all of the actors on the small Mount Tabor stage. “It’s an exercise in careful choreography, and the cast have been great about having their big moments for their scenes and then fading to the edges to be almost part of the scenery,” she said. One of the returning actors to the stage is Tomas Crossley, who was also in Clue and The Legend of Georgia McBride. He plays the part of Antoine, the somewhat suspicious wine critic. He said he enjoys community theatre as it’s a total departure from his everyday work. “Every day I have a lot of pressure on me. I’m a business owner and I have employees of my own. This is just a way that I can open up and feel free,” he said. He uses what he calls the “Rick Dalton method” of learning his lines. He makes an audio recording of the entire play, voicing all of the other characters, and then inserts his own lines while listening to it. He drew the inspiration for his character from a past acquaintance. “I used to work with a chef who was born and raised in Paris, and his accent has stuck with me through the years,” he said.

Kim Kennedy plays the central character of Aimee, whom the play revolves around. She starts off being a little flustered by the absence of her husband, but then settles down to the task at hand, and over the course of the play the audience gets to see the steel in her character. Ms. Kennedy has been involved in community theatre since 2017, when she was persuaded to take part by co-cast member Susie Mitchell. She and Ms. Mitchell had last appeared on stage when they were Grade Eight students at Pinecrest Elementary School. Ms. Kennedy’s first foray was as stage manager for Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike, and then she appeared onstage in 2019 in Making God Laugh. Since then she has been a regular contributor to Prince Edward Community Theatre, both on stage and in production roles. She said that her character is this play is described as “the responsible one” and she used the Julia Ogden character from Murdoch Mysteries as her template. “For my character, the winery is part of her life. It’s who she is and it’s her passion,” she said. Ms. Kennedy said that she loves being part of community theatre and has developed many friendships over the years. She said that it was a bit of a struggle this time to recruit members for this play, and would like to encourage County residents to give community theatre a try. “We’re very supportive of each other. It’s all about making sure people have fun,” she said.

Wining and Dying is playing tonight (Wednesday), Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Mount Tabor Playhouse in Milford. For tickets, please visit pecommtheatre.ca.