Final CCPA production of the season this weekend at Fox Playhouse

The Community Council on the Performing Arts is presenting "It Could Be Anyone of Us," a murder-mystery comedy with some audience participation written by Alan Ayckbourn tonight, Friday and Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Fox Playhouse, The play, which is the CCPA's final performance of the 2011-2012 season, is directed by Kathleen Day and sponsored in part by KNEM-KNMO Radio and produced by special arrangement with Samuel French Co. The play has the feature of having the audience vote on the guilty party or parties. Pictured: Front: Ricci Wood, Anna Jones. Back: Rob Foster, Kay Harper, Ashleyl Despain and Colby Moorhouse.

Theater instructor, Crowder College, Nevada

Hopefully by now, you have seen one of the posters about town which feature a police lineup of the six actors involved in the community theater production of the comedy and murder mystery play, "It Could Be Any One of Us."

The British playwright, Sir Alan Ayckbourn, wrote this about his own play: "An old dark house, a stormy night, a corpse, a number of suspects, a killer on the loose and a private sleuth hot on the trail. All the traditional ingredients for a good, old-fashioned edge-of-your-seat whodunit.

Unfortunately, the sleuth in question is the disastrous Norris Honeywell who has trouble even identifying the potential victim let alone the suspects. As far as he's concerned, it could be any one of them, really ..."

The play is set in an old manor where three siblings are at each other's necks ... and potentially their lives. The oldest sister, Margaret, played by Kay Harper, is a music composer who has failed to achieve any artistic recognition. Her sister Jocelyn, portrayed by Ricci Wood, claims to be a writer of thrillers who has never finished a novel. Margaret's brother, Brinton, acted by Colby Moorhouse, is a painter who doesn't allow anyone to see his work. The final member of the family is Jocelyn's 16-year-old daughter Amy, played by Anna Jones, who has her own reasons to be a potential suspect.

The two remaining characters are Norris, performed by Robert Foster, an insurance investigator who wants to be a real detective but is generally inept with his analysis of who the murderer is and Wendy, a former music student of Margaret's, played by Ashley DeSpain, who stands to inherit the entire estate if Margaret gets her way.

Most of the characters have their own reasons why they are the suspects. It could be any one of them. Now comes an interesting moment in the play when the audience has the chance to pick the character during the intermission that they think will be the most likely to commit the murder in Act 2. Attend the play and discover who the real killer is. And who really gets murdered. Keep in mind, it's a comedy!

As with any play, the technical personnel are important for designing the set (Kathleen Day) and building the set (John Scarborough, Kathleen Day and the cast), running the lights (Blayne Hendricks) and sound (Suzy Ridgeway), gathering the props and obtaining the perfect costumes (director and cast). The cast also must work with the help of the assistant director (Allison Fast), the stage manager (Janet Connors), and the stage crew member (Kathy Harrison).

This is the final play in the 2011-'12 Community Council on the Performing Arts Season. "It Could Be Any One of Us" opens tonight at 8 and runs Friday and Saturday, June 22, and 23 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, June 24 at 2 p.m. Admission is $6 per person at the Fox Playhouse door. The play is directed by Kathleen Day and sponsored in part by KNEM-KNMO Radio. The play is produced with arrangements with Samuel French, Inc., New York.