The Improv Centre hosts a Deadly Dinner Party, September 25 to October 30
Expect murder-mystery tropes to be torn down as a cast of characters descends on a mansion where mayhem ensues
Left to right, Deadly Dinner Party’s Alan Pavlakovic, Jacki Gunn, Meaghan Hommy, Chris Casillan, and Caitlin Maira.
The Improv Centre presents Deadly Dinner Party on Fridays and Saturdays at 7 pm from September 25 to October 30
THE IMPROV CENTRE sets its comedic sights on Agatha Christie and classic mysteries to mount an old-school whodunit for its fall show.
The Granville Island–based company is set to premiere Deadly Dinner Party as its weekend show through October, inviting audiences to an eccentric millionaire’s mansion where bodies drop, accusations fly, and alibis unravel.
Expect secretive, over-the-top characters straight out of Clue, seat-of-the-pants twists, and, because every performance is improvised and driven by audience shout-outs, a different murder to solve every night. A Hercule Poirot–like detective interrogates each guest to try to solve the crime before it’s too late—tearing down tried-and-true mystery tropes along the way.
Alternating onstage are TIC’s crack team of improvisers: Arell Bryski, Delaney Gilmour, Derek Burrows, Jordan Michaux, Karinga Wells, Ryan Bell, Jordy Matheson, Lanvi “Six” Nguyen, Syd Campbell, and Zach Wolfman, and Ryan Knighton.
As with a great Agatha Christie novel, the joy will come in trying to untangle the mystery—a task made considerably more difficult considering the cast itself won't even know what's coming. As TIC artistic director Alan Pavlakovic puts it in the press notes for the show, "Every night, a new mansion. New suspects. New secrets. New motives. New clues. And, inevitably, a new murder. The audience may think they know whodunit, but with improv, even we won't know until the final curtain.” 
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