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Summer is always murder.
Published: 7/17/2008 12:10 PM
Last Modified: 7/17/2008 12:10 PM

Or maybe I should say "murder" -- with those nice, irony-indicating quotation marks.

I've spent a good portion of the last five summers involved in killing people, in what I hope have been puzzling and entertaining and profitable and completely theoretical ways.

The profits are the funds raised through the Harwelden Murder Mystery, an annual bit of interactive dinner theater presented by the Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa. I've been involved with this production for eight summers -- the first three years as a cast member, the last five years as the writer of the show's script.

This year's production will be July 31-Aug. 2 and Aug. 7-9 at Harwelden, the stately Tulsa home that now serves as the headquarters for the Arts and Humanities Council, as well as housing the offices of organizations such as Light Opera Oklahoma and Chamber Music Tulsa.

We're calling this one "High Sea -- Dead People" -- a title that gives you some idea as to the degree of seriousness these evenings have.

It is the late 1950s, and a luxury liner, the S.S. Harwelden, is setting sail from Africa to America. On board is the sort of melting pot of people one might expect to find: An African king and his wife; an American heiress and her chaperone; a pair of missionaries; a French chef; various crewmembers; and a few people who, in these times of Cold War, may not be exactly who they appear to be.

Some of the characters meet untimely ends, all those left are suspects, and the audience must -- through interrogating the survivors -- figure out exactly what's been going on, and who is guilty.

The Harwelden Murder Mystery began as basically a three-dimensional version of the game "Clue" -- the play was little more than a preamble for having the audience roam through the Harwelden mansion asking questions of the actors.

But as time has passed, and as the people who make up what we call the Harwelden Mystery Players kept revealing ever more willingness to perform, the play has changed somewhat.

In fact, this year's show might be described as a comedy with detective interruptions. When I was working on the script earlier this year, my wife would read the pages as they were produced and would say, in that supportive way she has, "It's quite funny, dear, but shouldn't you start killing people some time soon? I mean, it IS called a MURDER mystery..."

The good thing about this is that it's not a matter of determining who lives or dies -- it's a matter of picking which actors will get to improvise during the question-and-answer sessions, and which ones will have to spend a little extra time by themselves in the changing room on the second floor.

This year's cast is the same as last year's -- Donna Prigmore, Kim Doner, Dennis England, Jeff Martin, Clint Hoppes, Eileen McClure, Emily Mock, Andrea Chancellor, Edmond Quillin -- with a special appearance by Arts and Humanities Council executive director Ken Busby. And they all make the words I've written sound a great deal funnier.

Tickets are $45, which includes dinner and drinks, and the people who figure out what's going on can win some impressive prizes. Call 584-3333 ex 32 for reservations.





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ARTS

James D. Watts Jr. has lived in Oklahoma for most his life, even though he still has people saying to him, "Don't sound like you're from around these parts." A University of Oklahoma Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Watts has received the Governor Arts Award, Harwelden Award and the National Conference of Christians and Jews Beth Macklin Award for his writing. Before coming to the Tulsa World, Watts worked for the Tulsa Tribune.

Contact him at (918) 581-8478.

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