Pinkies up! It’s time for a spot of tea and a round of croquet. What’s this? It seems a lordly pup has been digging up the croquet lawn and has found…a body?! My word. How do you deal with such an uninvited guest? What will the servants think? It’s a simple spark like this which leads to a chaotic garden party stuffed with missing colonels, maddening in-laws, fabled diamonds, and one mean frying pan. Reviving a true classic from Master Mystery Productions for its landmark 40th show, we are keeping our cool (while the characters strain to hold onto their etiquette) even as the tea–and the T–is piping hot in Spring 2026’s…

THE LAST GARDEN PARTY; OR HOW A LADY KEEPS HER POISE AROUND CORPSES

England at the turn of the twentieth century was a period of peace, prosperity, and cloying politeness. In the year 1900, as Victoria’s record-shattering reign eased toward its end, the young second wife of “the only wealthy peer left in England,” Phoebe Walliscroft, throws a garden party at their country estate while her husband is abroad. But her party is not going according to plan. First, the village peerage doesn’t respect her since she’s “just an American.” Second, the festivities are dominated by Phoebe’s new and eccentric in-laws. Third, there’s a skeleton under the croquet set…just as they were about play a game! As her troublesome in-laws-turned-suspects trade witticisms, insults, and suspicions, Phoebe and the rest of her guests attempt to piece together this puzzling problem…before this garden party becomes their last. A revival of the 2016 classic, the new production will feature a revised script with new characters and a brand-new solution to figure out!

In July 2016, when we were a mere babe of a company, we created The Last Garden Party, our eighth Master Mystery Production and a hilarious spoof of Victorian culture and aristocracy as sarcastic barbs and high-spirited hijinks (and a unexpected skeleton in the croquet lawn) erupt at a midsummer garden party. The show was used as a theatrical champagne bottle to launch a new outdoor garden space at Marcela’s, then known as My Enchanted Cottage and Tea Room. With an intimate garden around us, delicious tea, and fluffy scones, our guests were treated to some of the most sparkling sass and secrets we had shared up until then. For 2020, we planned to revive the show that summer as it had won the audience votes for the Hindsight Is 2020 Campaign to revive an MMP classic for our 5th anniversary. It received the subtitle How a Lady Keeps Her Poise Around Corpses as an homage to excessively long literature titles in Victorian times and to a line said by the unforgettable Lady Elizabeth Margaret Anne Prudence Temperance Charity Bradfordshire-Pierce during the play. But the pandemic lockdown delayed those plans. Now under the direction of Devanne Fredette, MMP Hall of Fame Artist who made her MMP debut in the 2016 original production, this outstanding revival brings a new cast, new characters, and a new solution to the mystery.

Devanne’s first MMP role, that of Phoebe Walliscroft, launched a long, propserous career with the company. She has won every award the company has from two Skeleton Key Awards for Service Above and Beyond to four Diamond Mask Awards for Excellence in Performance to a Ruby Hand Award for Achievements in Design to the Partners in Crime Award for Service in Writing to finally the Founder’s Award for a Year of Outstanding Service for 2018. Last year, she started directing with the sold-out summer blockbuster, Malice in Wonderland. Now ten years and many accolades after that first role, Devanne returns to direct the show that gave her her start as her landmark 20th production with MMP. A beautiful full circle moment!

The 2026 cast is an exciting blend–like a rich tea–of award-winning veteran performers from both Master Mystery Productions and other theatre companies and fresh-faced newcomers cutting their theatrical teeth on this show. None of the actors performed in the show before, which gives us entirely new perspectives on how these wonderful characters will be portrayed. From highbrow, high-falutin’ peacocks to the lowest lowbrow undergardener, we run the whole gamut of Victorian archetypes here. If you saw the 2016 show, who are you excited to see return?

One thing hasn’t changed, however. While the solution and endings have been rewritten, there will still be TWO endings for the show, depending on how many guests solve the crime. If the majority of the audience solves the mystery (i.e. correctly identifies the culprit), then they will receive the ending “Good Prevails.” If not, they will receive “Evil Triumphant.” This was a fun, creative idea we had to change up our mystery storytelling for returning audiences, and we can’t wait to bring it back for the 2026 revival. See how well you can do at the show. What ending will you see? Only one way to find out.

The Last Garden Party; or How a Lady Keeps Her Poise Around Corpses is a true gem of a show, a comedy that blends the Victorian worlds of Oscar Wilde and his acerbic wit and Sherlock Holmes and his deductive brilliance. If you ever wanted to see Lady Bracknell meet her sarcastic match, you’re in for a delectable treat. Sharp eyes, sharp clues, and sharp tongues are found here in our Victorian tea party. Sugar, anyone?

The Last Garden Party performs four consecutive Saturdays–April 18, April 25, May 2, and May 9, 2026–at 7:30 p.m. at Ridgecrest Presbyterian Church. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show runs two hours with a fifteen-minute inermission. Tickets are $25 each, which includes tea and treats provided. Seating is first come, first served. Physical tickets are sold at Red Rock Books. Online tickets are sold through Eventbrite at this link. You can also scan the QR code on the poster or click on the poster on the Welcome page to be taken to the site to buy your tickets. If you have any concerns with accessible seating or food allergies, please email your concerns to mastermysteryproductions@hotmail.com, and we will do our best to address your needs.

We’ll see you at the show! Buy your tickets before the disappear.

–Master Mystery Productions