THE NOTICE OF MURDER an Interactive Drama Live Action Freeform Role Playing Scenario for 18 players (7 male and 11 female) written by Rebecca Chao Written as an assignment in English Conversation, an English as a Foreign Language course taught for English Minors by Dr. Brian David Phillips in the Department of English at National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China, Fall Semester, 1998. Copyright 1998 by Rebecca Chao. Background Chicken Village is a beautiful place. A lot of tourists like to visit there. In Chicken Village, inhabitants are accustomed to reading the "Chicken Village weekly publication" on every Friday morning. Reading the "Chicken Village weekly publication" is their chief means to keep informed of local events in this week. The inhabitants all like to read the personal column. There are all kinds of notices in the personal column. In the notices, someone wants to find his dog back, someone ask for the cook and so on. For the inhabitants who live in the small place, these notices are just interesting to them. On that special Friday ---October 29 ---all things go as usual. Every inhabitant start to read the personal column on "Chicken Village weekly publication". Suddenly, they find a really strange and interesting notice ---THE NOTICE OF MURDER. That notice said on October 29, Friday, 630 p.m., there will be a murder at Green Gable, friends and relatives are all invited, it will not be informed individually again. The news surprises everyone, even people who live in Green Gable. Everyone suppose that was a game, a party or something held in Green Gable tonight.Therefore, many people plan to go to the party out of curiosity. However, in Green Gable, they do not know what will happen tonight,either. Mandy is the hostess of the Green Gable, she decides to prepare some wine and snack to take care of these unexpected guests tonight. Characters' name list Mandy: 60, She is the hostess of Green Gable. She is very smart,clever, and keen of judgment. Dora: 61, She is Mandy's good friend since they are classmate in senior high school. Now, Mandy hires her to be their housekeeper. Judy: 24, She is Mandy's distantly related cousin. But she often calls Mandy as aunt. Patrick is her older brother. Her speaking is often a little acrid. Patrick: 26, He is Mandy's distantly related cousin. But he often calls Mandy as aunt, too. Judy is his younger sister. He is a handsome guy but he likes to make a joke. Therefore, most of people in Green Gable suspect that the notice of the murder is his trick. Bertha: 24, She is a beautiful widow. She works in Mrs. Smith's garden. She also has a 2 years old son. Now she lodge in Green Gable. Nydia: 34, She is the cook of Green Gable. And she is a immigrant from Europe. She is a little nervous, she often thinks that Nazi would come to kill her. Karen: 50, She is the inhabitant of Chicken Village. Edmund: 28, He is the son of Karen. He loves Bertha very much. Laura: 38, She is the inhabitant of Chicken Village. She is very curious. She is 30 years old younger than her husband. Angus: 68, He is Laura's husband. He had been a colonel. Jamie: 26, She is the inhabitant of Chicken Village. She lives with Emily. She is a smart girl. Emily: 25, She is the inhabitant of Chicken Village. She and Jamie are roommate. they are good friend. She is docile, and she never quarrel with others. Deborah: 47, She is the inhabitant of Chicken Village. She loves her husband very much. She always has a good mood, and she is seldom angry. She has a good temper. Julian: 51, He is Deborah's husband. He loves his wife, too. He is a successful priest in Chicken Village Randolph: 30, He is the police of Chicken Village. He have keen sense of responsibility. Gilbert: 35, He is also the police of Chicken Village.However, he is the boss of Randolph. Sam: 32, He is the waiter of the Royal Restaurant. Miranda: 26, She is the waitress of the Royal Restaurant. Sam has courted her. Mandy Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are the hostess of Green Gable. You are smart and clever woman. You are about 60 years old. You were a secretary in the past. You came to England one year ago. You like everyone in Green Gable. Other information Dora is your senior high school classmate. You are out of contact with her for many years. However, 6 months ago, you received a letter form her. The letter made you to show sympathy for Dora, so you invited her to live with you and help you to manage Green Gable. Dora is not very clever, she often does wrong thing, this sometimes makes you feel angry. Patrick and Judy are your distantly related cousins, but they usually call you aunt. You like them,too. Nydia is your cook. She was too nervous, besides She has a bad temper. However, she can cook a lot of delicious dishes, so you are still willing to hire her. Because of Mrs. Smith's asking, you let her live in Green Gable. You think Bertha is a good girl, too. Do not tell easily, until other asks you You had worked for Mr. Lin as a secretary, your boss was a millionaire, however, he died ten years ago. Besides, your boss had made the will, you were left a lot of property after your boss's wife's death. You have heard recently that his wife was sick and beyond cure. His wife maybe will die in few weeks. Your boss also has two children ---- Ivy and Phil. If you die, they can inherit the property. Dora Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are a 61 years old woman. You are beautiful but a little stupid. You likes Mandy a lot. You and Mandy are very good friend since you were senior high school student. You are out of contact with her for many years. However, 6 months ago, you sent a letter to her, and hoped Mandy could help you to go through the difficulty. To your surprise, Mandy invite you to live with her, and help her to manage Green Gable. You were so happy to came here and you were grateful to Mandy for her kindness. Other information The event of the notice of the murder makes you very nervous because you likes Mandy a lot, you do not want to see anything bad happen on your best friend, especially the murder. You are worried about your friend's safety. Do not tell easily, until other asks you You think that the notice of murder was Patrick's joke. Because he always likes to make joke on others. Besides, you think this was a very bad joke, you are a little angry at what he did. Judy Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are a 22 years old girl. You are a charming girl. Now you are a waitress in the café. You are Mandy's distantly related cousin. But you often call Mandy as aunt. Patrick is your older brother. You and Patrick have sent a letter to Mandy, asked her if you two can come to live with her. To your surprise, Mandy agree. Mandy treat you well, and you respect her very much. Your speaking is often a little acrid but funny. You sometimes make joke on imitating others' talking style. Other information You think that the notice of murder is just someone's trick. Besides, you can not wait to see what will happen tonight. Do not tell easily, until other asks you In fact, you are not Judy, your name is Ivy.You also have a older sister named Phil but you two have never seen each other since ten years ago. Your father was Mr. Lin, and he was a millionaire. Mandy has worked for your father. Unfortunately, your father died ten years ago. He had made the will. In the will, your father left the money to your mother. But after your mother's death, the property will be gave to Mandy. Your mother is critically ill. Therefore, you try to find Mandy, you hope that you can be Mandy's friend, then maybe you can depend on her for a living. Fortunately, you has met Patrick and Judy by chance, they just on the way to Green Gable. So you try your best to persuade Judy to go France for a trip first, you can go to Green Gable with Patrick instead of Judy. Thus, you are in Green Gable now. Patrick Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are a 26 years old young man, and you are a pretty handsome guy. You are Mandy's distantly related cousin. But you often call Mandy as aunt. Judy is your younger sister. You and Judy have sent a letter to Mandy, asked her if you two can come to live with her. To your surprise, Mandy agree. Mandy treat you well, and you respect her very much. You are a humorous person. You like play a joke on others but you really do not have bad intention. In fact, you do it just for fun. Besides, you especially like to make a joke on Dora and Nydia. Other information A lot of people consider that you published The Notice Of The Murder in "Chicken Village weekly publication". However, you really did not do that, you feel so sad to be misunderstood by others. Do not tell easily, until other asks you You know one very important information. That is Judy who lives in Green Gable now is Ivy. The real Judy --- your younger sister ---takes a trip in France now. Ivy's father was Mandy's boss in the past. However, her father died ten years ago. Her father was a millionaire. He made the will before he died. In the will, her father left the money to her mother. But after her mother's death, the property will be gave to Mandy. Therefore, Ivy tries to find Mandy, she hoped that she can be Mandy's friend, then maybe she can depend on her for a living. You like Ivy and you also show sympathy for her, you want to help Ivy. Therefore, you let Judy to take a trip to France, then you went to Green Gable with Ivy. Bertha Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are 24 years old widow. You are quite beautiful. Gardening is your favorite. Now you work in Mrs. Smith's garden. Your husband died two years ago. You also have a cute son. Your son called Calvin, he is just 3 years old. Mrs. Smith asked Mandy to let you live in Green Gable, you are moved to tears of gratitude. Now you and your little boy lodge in Green Gable.The people live in Green Gable treat you and your son well, you like them,too. Other information You went to work in the morning, so you did not see The Notice Of The Murder in "Chicken Village weekly publication" today. You did not know this event until you went home in the evening. Do not tell easily, until other asks you This is a secret which kept by yourself only. In fact, your real name is not Bertha, your name is Phil. You also have a younger sister named Ivy but you two have never seen each other since ten years ago. Your father was Mr. Lin, and he was a millionaire. Mandy has worked for your father. Unfortunately, your father died ten years ago. He had made the will. In the will, your father left the money to your mother. But after your mother's death, the property will be gave to Mandy. Your mother is critically ill.Therefore, you try to find Mandy, you hope that you can be Mandy's friend, then maybe you can depend on her for a living. Because of Mrs. Smith's help, you and your son live in Green Gable now. Nydia Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are a 34 years old woman. Your family member all died many years ago. They was massacred by Nazi, and you are the only one survived in your family in that massacre. You immigrate into England to take refuge. You like cooking, you are a cook and work for Mandy. You can cook a lot of delicious dishes and snacks. Other information Because your family members were all massacred by Nazi., you are always nervous. You afraid that Nazi would find you, then they would kill you. When you saw The Notice Of The Murder in "Chicken Village weekly publication", you were scared to death. You are afraid that Nazi have found you. You want to hide yourself. Do not tell easily, until other asks you In your view, this notice is not just simply a joke. That must be Nazi did. Although no one believe you, you do not care. Another possibility is that Patrick published the notice of murder. He always likes to this kind of things, and think that what he did is humorous. Karen Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are a 60 woman, and your husband died many years ago. Your husband was a soldier, he died in the war. You have a son, his name is Edmund. You live with your son and the housekeeper. You think that your life is okay but a little boring. You hope something special will happen. Other information In this morning, you read the "Chicken Village weekly publication" as usual. Suddenly, you saw the notice of murder, you were very excited about it. You thought that was a game. Therefore, you decided to go to Green Gable with Edmund tonight to see what is going to happen. Do not tell easily, until other asks you You think that the notice of the murder was Patrick's idea. Because he often likes to play joke. However, you like this idea, you would have something special to do tonight. Edmund Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are 28 years old. You are still single not marry. Your mother is Karen, you live with her for many years. Your father was a soldier, he died in a war many years ago. Literature is your favorite, and you like to recite poems. Now you do not find a job Other information You think that the notice of murder is very boring. That must be Patrick's trick. You do not want to join in them, that game is very boring. However, your mother wants you go with her, you were forced to go Green Gable tonight. Do not tell easily, until other asks you You love Bertha a lot, though you know she is a widow, you think it does matter. Bertha lives in Green Gable. You know she works in Mrs. Smith's garden, therefore, you often go to garden when you have free time. However, Bertha seems to have a big secret which can not be told, you decide to find out the secret. Laura Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are 38 years old. You live with your husband now. Your husband was the colonel in the past. You are proud of your husband very much. Besides, you are 30 years old younger than your husband. You are an affectionate couple. Other information You are very curious about the notice of the murder, you think that is an interesting game. You like to participate in all kinds of party. You can not wait to see what will happen tonight. You will go to visit Green Gable with your husband. Do not tell easily, until other asks you Your husband own a gun but the gun does not have the license. Angus keep the pistol just in memory of his proud in the past.You think that is okay but you still can not tell others or Angus would lose that pistol. Angus Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are 68 years old now. You had been the colonel in the past. You have made meritorious military services. You also have received many medals awarded by the national government. You are very proud of yourself. Laura is your wife, she is 30 years old younger than you. You love your wife more than spoil her. You are satisfied with marrying Laura. Other information You did not have too much interest toward the notice of the murder. However, your wife, Laura, seems to excited about it. Therefore, you decide to go to Green Gable with Laura tonight. Do not tell easily, until other asks you You own a pistol without license. You keep the pistol just because you want to maintain the proud memory in the past. For it is illegal to own a pistol without the license, you keep it as a secret. Jamie Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are a 26 years old girl. You are smart. You live in Chicken Village for 3 years. You live with your friend, Emily. You and Emily are old friend. You feed the ducks and the chickens by yourself. You also cultivate some vegetables You feel your life is happy and full of substance. Other information Emily is a good girl but she sometimes is not clever enough. Thus, she sometimes will bring trouble to you. However, you still like her, for she is your best friend. Tonight you will go to Green Gable Because of Emily's asking. Do not tell easily, until other asks you You think that the notice of the murder maybe not a joke. Your sixth sense tell you that there will be something happen in Green Gable. You decide to find out. Emily Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are 25 years old. You are a good intention and docile girl. Besides, you never want to dispute with anyone. You also never quarrel with others. Now, you live with your friend, Jamie. You are old friend. You get along with Jamie well. You not only feed the ducks and the chickens but also cultivate some vegetables. You are satisfied with your life. Other information You saw the notice of the murder in "Chicken Village weekly publication" this morning. You are curious about it, so you ask Jamie to go to Green Gable with you. You expect the coming of tonight. Do not tell easily, until other asks you Two days ago, you have seen Mandy talk with someone who looks like bad guy. However, since it was other's matter, you thought that you should not interfere. You decided to keep it as a secret. Deborah Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are a 47 years old woman. You are content with living your dear husband, Julian. You are a innocent woman. Although you are a little fat, you do not care about it. You have a good heart, and you always in good mood. It seems that you never lose your temper. Your husband is a priest, you adore him very much. Your favorite is listening to his preach. Other information When you saw the notice of the murder this morning, you are excited about it. You can not wait to see what is going to happen in Green Gable tonight. There is only one pity that your husband can not go with you. Because your husband must make the preach tonight. However, that is okay, you will go to Green Gable alone. Do not tell easily, until other asks you Two days ago, you have seen Mandy talk with someone who looks like bad guy. However, since it was other's matter, you thought that you should not interfere. You decided to keep it as a secret. Julian Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are a 51 years old man. You graduated from the famous university. You have live in Chicken Village for 30 years. You live with your wife, Deborah, you love her very much. Now you are a successful priest in Chicken Village, and all villagers in Chicken Village like your preach. Other information You think that the notice of murder is just someone's joke. You did not have many interest toward it. However, your wife like it. Since you must have to make the preach in Dog Village tonight, you could not go with Deborah, in fact, you feel very happy about it. Do not tell easily, until other asks you You have seen Sam stealthily go to the newspaper office two day ago. In your view, Sam never does good thing, maybe the notice of murder was his trick. However, you can not sure that you saw the guy was really Sam. So you do not want to monger the rumor. Sam Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are a 32 years old man. Your look is a little ugly so many people do not like you. Now you are a waiter of the Royal Restaurant. Miranda is also a waitress in the Royal Restaurant. She looks so cute that you fall in love with her. However, she seems to already have the boyfriend. You feel very sad but you would not give up, you will keep courting her. Other information When you have no money, you will misappropriate the public money from the Royal Restaurant by making the fake items of an account. You think that what you did on the account are flawless. You worship yourself. Do not tell easily, until other asks you In fact, The Notice Of Murder was published by you. Because Mandy asked you to do this, besides, you also have to play the role of robber in Green Gable tonight. After doing this, Mandy will give you a large amount of money. You think this joke is a interesting idea. You will have fun to see everyone in panic. CONDITION ONE At 6:20, a lot of villagers come to Green Gable. They are Karen and her son, Edmund, Laura and Angus, Jamie and Emily, Deborah. On the other side, people in Green Gable have prepared the wines and snacks in advance. When the minute hand of the clock point 6, everyone look at the clock and guess what will happen. At this time, Green Gable has a power failure, the house sink into the dark. Everyone in Green Gable start to scream. Suddenly, a man whose face covered with the veil barge into the hall. That man take a flashlight to shine everyone in turn. When the light point the place of Mandy, that guy shoot at her twice. Everyone in the house stun. Then that guy turn back, one more shoot, that man fall dead. At this time, all light turn on, the hall recover the electric power, the house is bright now. They find that Mandy's ear is blooding, and that guy was dead. Now, Green Gable is in a state of chaos. How worse it is! Angus recognize that guy was Sam. However, Mandy says she has seen him just one time in Royal Restaurant, and it is impossible for her to contract any enmity with him. Latter, the police, Gilbert and Randolph, arrive. They start to investigate this case. They consider that Sam must commit suicide or his pistol discharge. Besides, they find that the back door which was rarely used was lubricated recently. That means everyone in the hall could let Sam into the hall when Green Gable has a power failure. Thus, Gilbert and Randolph decide to investigate everyone in the hall, they try to find who is the instigator behind the scenes. Gilbert Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are 35 years old. You are the police in Chicken Village. You have live in Chicken Village for 3 years. You like this village. You are very smart and you has solve a lot of police case. Other information On October 29, a murder took place in Green Gable. A man named Sam was dead. Besides, you found the back door which was rarely used was lubricated recently. That means everyone in the hall could let Sam into the hall when Green Gable has a power failure. Thus, you and Randolph decide to investigate everyone in the hall, both of you try to find who is the instigator behind the scenes. Randolph Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are 30 years old. You came to Chicken Village recently. Now you are a police in Chicken Village police station. Your boss is Gilbert. Your duty is to help Gilbert to deal with all the cases. Other information On October 29, a murder took place in Green Gable. A man named Sam was dead. Besides, you found the back door which was rarely used was lubricated recently. That means everyone in the hall could let Sam into the hall when Green Gable has a power failure. Thus, you and Gilbert decide to investigate everyone in the hall, both of you try to find who is the instigator behind the scenes. Miranda Use this information to introduce yourself to the group You are a 26 years old girl. You have moved to Chicken Village for one year. You are the waitress of the Royal Restaurant. You do not like this job a little because it is too tired and your salary is not many. Other information Sam was also the waiter in the Royal Restaurant. He had courted you. Dora More information When everyone looked at the clock at 630, you looked at your friend, Mandy. You found she hold the glass of water, then the house became dark. You were worried about Mandy's safety. When you saw Mandy was nearly be murdered, you were scared to death. Seeing Mandy was alright, you had a breathing spell. Mandy More information In fact, this event was you planed. You are not Mandy, you are Harriet, Mandy's younger sister. When you know your sister will inherit a large amount of money, you are very happy. However, unfortunately, Mandy caught a bad cold, then she died. At that time, you thought your beautiful dream broke, you can not become rich. Suddenly, a idea came to your mind, why you can not be Mandy, and the dead one was Harriet. No one can differentiate you two. Therefore, you went to England and moved to a remote village ---Chicken Village. At first, everything was okay. One day, Dora send a letter to Mandy, you replied in Harriet' name and told her the condition. Because Dora has a good heart, she consider that it was right, since the property was gave Mandy and Harriet originally. So Dora regard Harriet as Mandy in front of others. A week ago, Sam recognized you was Harriet, and he threatened and extorted you. You decided to kill Sam. You asked him to published The Notice Of Murder in "Chicken Village Weekly Publication ". Then you asked him to play the role of robber on October 29, P.m. 630, in Green Gable. You told him just take the flashlight to shine everyone and made them scared. Then you will give him a large amount of money. On October 29, 630, when everyone looked at the clock, you poured some water on the broken electric wire cause the short circuit. This cause the a power failure, then you walked to Sam's back, shot at your original place. Sam surprised and turned back to see who behind him shot. Then you killed him, and went back to your original place. You also hurt your ear to made others believed you were murdered nearly.