Welcome to Post Mortem!  This is where Master Mystery Productions looks back on the performance of its most recent show.

March 9, 2016 saw the world premiere of MMP’s sixth show, Ex Luna, a lunar murder mystery, for the Peer Mentor Club at Cal State University Sacramento.  The story launched teams into outer space as they solved a murder on the moon when an astronaut dies after his tampered spacesuit malfunctions.

What a fantastic show!  The audience embraced the story fully, diving into the space-age saga of a four-man crew and their voyage to recover the lunar module that took the first humans to the moon.  Separated from each other, the two teams delved into the mysterious clues they received.  A mission brief?  An intercepted message?  An astronaut’s journal?  A photograph?  How do all these clues add up to a killer in a lunar capsule?

Our audience was determined to find out.

But Ex Luna is not without its twists.  In the story, before the crew can identify the one responsible, their capsule, on the return to Earth, suffers a devastating oxygen leak and power drainage, turning their return into a race for survival.  The audience had only one hour to solve the mystery, and at least one of the teams had to have the correct solution in order to save the astronauts’ lives.  If they were both wrong, the crew would die.

To give them a little “breathing room,” teams had the opportunity to win an extra ballot at judgement time…if they were able to answer a question about female inventors.  And they wouldn’t learn if they won until it was time to enter their solutions.  Then certain members swapped teams as their “tour of duty ended on the space station and they could return home” or their “training ended allowing them to leave Earth for the Space Station.”  Finally, just before filling out their ballots, there was a “communications blackout” that stopped all contact between teams for the rest of the show.

Exciting?  You bet.  Our audience was in a flurry of activity, each twist revving up the tension and adventure in the rooms.  When it was time to reveal the solution, audience members clung to each other in nervous anticipation to see if they were successful.  Did they solve the murder of Dr. Gary Fredericks?

The Peer Mentors of CSU Sacramento.  Thanks for being an amazing audience!

They did.  One ballot had the correct solution.  They had solved the murder and saved the astronauts.  The room exploded in cheers.

It has been a joy bringing Ex Luna to life.  Master Mystery Productions would like to thank the Peer Mentors of CSUS for inviting us back, Calvin Johnson for his role as Dr. Fredericks, and the Stallings family for their support.  We can’t wait to bring the next out-of-this-world mystery adventure to the world.

So what’s next for MMP?  We’re planning a funeral where the floral arrangements hold a deadly secret…especially when they’re wild.  Coming April 8, 2016, it’s our seventh production…

WILDFLOWERS FOR THE FUNERAL

Hope to see you there!

–Master Mystery Productions