Ashleigh Heaton
Editor-in-Chief

Image you are playing a game of “Clue”, piecing together the pieces of an elaborate murder. Was it Miss Scarlett in the library with a candlestick, or Colonel Mustard in the study with the rope? You puzzle over the mystery until, finally, epiphany strikes – Professor Plum! In the kitchen! With the revolver!

However, you are only dealing with plastic game pieces when playing “Clue”. In Coppell High School’s spring play, Out of Sight…Out of Murder, these stereotypical characters and situations are brought to life – literally.

The show follows Peter Knight, a struggling novelist trying to complete a murder mystery novel. Seeking inspiration, Knight goes to a mansion where another novelist was allegedly murdered; however, through a miraculous turn of events, lightening strikes and all of the characters Knight had been concocting leap off of the page and become living, breathing people.

The moment an audience member walks in to the show, they will be submerged in the world of Out of Sight, as the entrance will be set up as a hallway in the mansion. Audience members should also expect actors to reach out and interact with them throughout the show.

“Any time I go in to a play, I let the kids bring to it what they can and then I kind of tweak it from there, and they’ve been bringing some different stuff to it,” director and theatre department head Lisa Tabor said. “It’s a lot of fun to see what they’re bringing to it, what the changes are, as far as the characters are concerned.”

Unlike most past CHS shows, Out of Sight will be presented in the round, meaning that there audience will be on all four sides of the actors. This poses a challenge for the actors who are used to only acting forward, but the end result will be a more engaging show for the audience.

“I try to sit in different spots during rehearsals and make sure everyone turns so that each audience member doesn’t feel cheated out by their seat,” assistant director freshman Amanda Clark said. “I think they’re handling it really well – it’s a lot more intimate and real.”

Out of Sight also marks the last CHS production for six seniors (Faith Kindervag, Mackenzie Orr, Mandy Mullarkey, Judy Hong, Chloe Lanier and Evan Suttle). All of these students have worked on shows together and have grown to know each other through theatre – though the idea of closure is bittersweet, the chemistry they have with each other is undeniable.

“All the seniors have really good roles and they’re just hysterical,” senior Mullarkey said, who plays Kay. “It just heightens the compatibility we have on stage because we’ve been with each other so long.”

Even for Orr, who has been in almost all of the CHS productions since entering high school and is pursuing theatre in college, says this show stands out among the rest.

“This is seriously one of the best rehearsal processes I’ve ever had so far at this school,” Orr said. “I’m really enjoying it, and it’s fun to be working with all these people for the last time. It’s a show I’m really going to like to say was my last one.”

Performances are May 12 – 17 in the Black Box Theater. No performance on Friday, May 13. All shows begin at 7:00 p.m. except for the Sunday, May 15 performance, which begins at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 for students, $7 for adults.