Nearly 80 people attended the “Who Wants To Be An Abbey-Heir: A Downton Abbey Murder Mystery” show at the South Dumfries Historical Society on Saturday, March 23, 2024.
The one-day fundraiser show ran in support of both the Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Homestead and the South Dumfries Historical Society, and a majority of the funds are to be split between the two organizations.
“Both of our organizations exist in this community to preserve heritage and history in this area,” said Nancy Carubba, Manager for the Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Homestead. “Both the Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Homestead and South Dumfries Museum and Historical Society are not-for-profit charitable donation organizations, and as such, we exist on municipal support grants and community events that we host, and this is one of those projects. We thank you for coming and for supporting us, and we’re very grateful.”
The play, set in the 20th century, followed along as both the upstairs and downstairs dwellers of the Downton Abbey estate, dealt with its impending sale and the murderous twist that came with it.
During the show, those in attendance were set up to be the potential buyers of the extravagant household.
The original script was written by Rick Simm, with music and direction provided by Theresa Noon-Hunter, owner of There’s a Production.
As guests settled into their seats, Mr. Carson, the butler for Downton Abbey (played by Wilding), walked around mingling and exchanging cheeky remarks with the audience, setting the tone for the rest of the evening.
It wasn’t long before the show began, and guests were introduced to Dowager Countess (Noon-Hunter), Lady Mary (Cheryl Hue), Lady Edith (Steven B. Andrews) and Tom Branson (Tony Babcock).
The four esteemed family members, along with Mr. Carson, were debating on whether the estate should be sold or not, when shortly thereafter, one of them was found murdered with the words “for sale” on their forehead.
As act one wrapped up, guests were served a dinner of roasted tomato penne alla vodka, roast chicken with insalata and house made focaccia bread.
It wasn’t until act two when the audience members were introduced to the downstairs dwellers of Downton Abbey including, Mr. Bates (Andrews), Thomas Barrow (Babcock), Mrs. Hughes (Hue) and Mrs. Patmore (Noon-Hunter).
Before moving into the third act, guests enjoyed a dessert of St. George apple crisp topped with a drizzle of Italian custard, as well as coffee and tea.
At the end of the show, the audience got the opportunity to vote on who they thought committed the crime and while many had several guesses, only one person took home a Downton Abbey themed towel as their prize.
Overall, between the parody of hit songs like Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and the Beatles’ “In My Life,” as well as the many improvised moments, the cast of the “Who Wants To Be An Abbey-Heir: A Downton Abbey Murder Mystery” show, left the audience in stitches.
Audience members Jessica Hue and Cathy Newman said that they were impressed by the show.
“It was awesome and just hilarious, we were entertained the entire time,” said Newman. “I really liked the way that they all played multiple characters and engaged with the audience.”
While the two said that they enjoyed the entire cast, they noted that they couldn’t help but have a soft spot for one in particular.
“Everyone was great but we really loved Mr. Carson,” said Hue. “He spent a lot of time not only interacting with us, but the whole audience and he was just really good at improv and getting people engaged in a natural way.”
