Transitioning from leading lady to the director of a production is an act ten years in the making. And in ten years, that’s a lot of shows. Ahem. A lot. Twenty, to be precise. Our grande dame director, Devanne Fredette, counts this wonderful revival production of The Last Garden Party as her landmark twentieth with Master Mystery Productions. And in a true full circle moment, she directs for her twentieth show the very first Master Mystery Production in her career. Devanne shares with us her thoughts on bringing her past self and her present self together in making this stunning, sparkling production.

A DIAMOND OF A DIRECTOR: The Making of The Last Garden Party (Part 5)

“I Am Not Afraid.”

It’s quite an undertaking of going back and creating something from something that you hold precious to your heart and then making something new from it. What if the changes you may bring sours your memory of the show? What if your naivete clashes with the show? And so on. 

But that’s the beauty of theater and especially The Last Garden Party in all forms. After all, to gain experience one needs to first begin. However that’s not to say I have done that alone and have come to find that in collaboration a show like this can flourish and invite creativity for everyone and spark wonderful changes that leads to excitement in both acting and in the technical field. Allowing the nostalgia and the changes to coincide with one another.

From Naïve Hostess to Madam Director

“Phoebe goes through a lot of changes in a short amount of time.  She accepts the truth more and more as time goes on.  In the beginning, she is very anxious to please her guests.  She wants her husband, George, to be proud of her.  However, since she was not raised in Victorian society, she is quick to get nervous.  I picture Phoebe as a small town American girl that is thrown into a quest for power.  As time passes, she accepts this role of being the odd-person-out and becomes more confident in how she moves and acts, setting the perfect balance between a novice hostess and a decisive detective.“ Devanne Fredette’s 2016 naive but sincere character blog about her own thoughts on Phoebe Walliscroft 

Ten years ago, I had decided to take a step and attempt to do theater. The Last Garden Party was my first show with the small theater company at this time: Master Mystery Productions. I was incredibly nervous coming in from only sparingly high school theater education and the drive of acting. Around this time we were a small little group that I remember showing up and only auditioning with Daniel Stallings and maybe Celese Sanders (Ed Note: Now known as Celese Kendrick.) but a lot of the audition was bouncing off of a single person, but in all fairness the original The Last Garden Party was for a smaller cast. I’m sure my audition though…well was probably one of my weakest performances. 

However, I believe Director Daniel Stallings took a leap of faith in me. In that we, as members of the growing MMP family, believe that one grows and gains experience by practicing theater. By giving experienced training through practice and doing said craft, one becomes not only a stronger performer or technical expert but a more confident person outside of the theater. It sounds incredibly simple, but, especially with confidence, it takes years of risk and learning from your mistakes or your shortcomings and putting it into practice to get right.

The Devanne that was first cast as Phoebe Walliscroft was not the same Devanne that performed as Phoebe Walliscroft. She (Phoebe) has taught me so much in performance and confidence and theater that her character arc is often my framework for when I start learning new things.

In extension, The Last Garden Party is heavily an ensemble piece. The little group of actors with varying degrees of expertise all came together. It was often said with the original show that there are no main characters. In relation to The Last Garden Party I believe that that was what inspired us all to come together and prop each other up to the best of our abilities with respect and that sentiment carried onward as the shows progressed and Master Mysteries Productions grew…

Fast forward 10 years later, after my debut of directing for Malice In Wonderland, I had my eye on The Last Garden Party revival. Having been cast in 2020 revival and the project being cancelled due to the events of 2020, I decided I would like to revive it myself in honor of my 10th anniversary of being a part of Master Mystery Productions, so the audience could have another chance to not only experience the highly acclaimed story and characters of The Last Garden Party but also understand why this show is so beloved by me and, I would argue, much of the original cast.

With The Last Garden Party (2026) now extended to The Last Garden Party; or How a Lady Keeps Her Poise Around Corpses, it was only natural progression that I would extend the same opportunities that had been presented to me in the beginning to the new cast, be they first-timers or my fellow veteran performers. With a fresh, new start, we brought Murolo Patchin in as an Assistant Director, who bravely took a chance to start directing, and began adapting the show taking both the nostalgic and new aspects combining them into a whole new show.

The Duality of Change

Many, if not all of our shows, take inspiration from the venue itself due to the traveling nature of MMP. With the venue being a church rather than an outdoor garden, it informed how the play was built. We decided to bring in the concepts of glass, especially the stained-glass windows. But notably it is a Victorian garden party, thus the visual concept was expanded to a Victorian terrarium. Terrariums would often include small plants and animals under glass separating the garden from the host. Specifically with the Victorian Gothic Revival aesthetic of bronze, glass, and elaborate, but ultimately fake, specimens of “nature”.

I think that’s where I find myself most drawn towards in this show as compared to the original. The theme behind The Last Garden Party (2016) was white, pastels, new, and I think it leaned heavily into the surface “properness” of Victorian etiquette juxtaposing the character’s true natures as the show went on. Constrastingly, when exploring The Last Garden Party; or How A Lady Keeps Her Poise Around Corpses, and the addition of characters in multiple backgrounds, I directed the show heavily towards the characters and environment in showing their “true” selves through symbolism such as the language of flowers, bugs, and birds all wrapped in beautiful forgeries of traditional etiquette aiming for style over historical accuracy. That’s not to say it’s not accurate historically, but even Victorian symbolism is hyperbolic. So, too, is the current design of the show. Having been a part of both, I think this introduces a nuanced discussion of originality, whether or not a thing despite not being the original has any worth, and, with the nature of revivals, can it be worth more?

This of course blending into the portrayals and visuals of the characters. While every actor develops their own character, there are certain truths and specific changes that each character transforms into over the span of the show. 

Every character here has some form of duality blended into their story. As part of the crew, and especially as director, I find it incredibly satisfying when the use of symbolism can both complement and juxtapose who the characters are and aren’t. All at the same time. Thus provoking a sense of depth and thought not only in performance but also in the environment that they live in.

This was a big step from the original. However, with not only a larger cast and crew, but an entirely new cast and crew taking up the reins of the show, it felt only natural to go in that direction and evolve it into its own thing. Though that’s not to say that everything was left behind from the original show. No, far from it. Many of the props and characterization that feel almost expected now to be a part of it have returned such certain costumes, or the parasol, or the flask, or even the glorious seánce. I definitely recommend going back and reading the 2016 blog posts should you feel inspired by a little light reading and a more in depth explanation of the original show in contrast to this revival.

Devanne’s Diamond Mask Awards over the years.

My Last Garden Party?

I can say that I am incredibly proud of how the cast has taken to their characters. Taking my precious Victorian hooligans and making them your own and then, in turn, coming together, helping each other, learning together, laughing together, supporting each other is so rewarding. That’s more than I could ask for.

I am so incredibly thankful to you all. You all inspire me to keep going, to keep learning, and ultimately to keep evolving. The Last Garden Party is so powerfully nostalgic, and I thank each and everyone one of you for allowing me to not only experience The Last Garden Party again but by extension to experience How a Lady Keeps Her Poise Around Corpses from the very beginning. This show has a lot of history baked into it, and I think, with each iteration, the themes behind the story become that much stronger all held together by pure fun, timing, and strong, memorable characters.

As time goes by I hope you all look onto this show as fondly as I have. You never know what is certain. I hope in years to come every so often this show is brought up for revival. Perhaps I’ll be in the crowd. Perhaps I’ll be standing in another character’s shoes. Perhaps I’ll be reading about it in some far off place. But if it doesn’t and this is truly my Last Garden Party show, then I can’t think of a better cast of people to experience this show with for the last time. 

One thing is certain, Dear Precious Audience. The cast and crew have worked impeccably hard to bring this show to life and invite you all to come join in on the fun on the various show dates. You are allowed to laugh, cry, and attempt your hand at figuring out the multiple ending mystery. Be careful, however, there are two endings, one good and one bad. Both depend on the audience’s ability to unravel the mystery surrounding The Iceberg Diamond.

With that said I hope each and everyone of you enjoys Master Mystery Productions 2026 spring show: The Last Garden Party; or How a Lady Keeps Her Poise Around Corpses.

There you have it! A glimpse into the glittery world of The Last Garden Party; or How a Lady Keeps Her Poise Around Corpses from its story, actors, set, costumes, props, and diamond of a director. Who’s ready to grab their hoop skirt and twirl through our garden? Mind the skeleton though. He’s catching up on his beauty sleep.

We’ll see you at The Last Garden Party!

Tickets are sold here or in person at Red Rock Books. A ticket gets you a selection of teas, sweet treats, and a seat for the show. Don’t miss out on this wonderul, hilarious production!

–Master Mystery Productions