Double role play on display:

THE CAST AND crew of Cedar Grove-Belgium High School’s performance of “The Murder Mystery at the Murder Mystery” includes (seated, from left) Anna Jerabek, Iris Goff, Nolan Hill, (back row) Lizzie Landsee, Payton Juarez, Levi Ruona, Emma Heisler, Natalie Kuhagen, Mikayla Rowdon, Lena Sepulveda, Noah Hagemann, Evelyn Ramos-Garcia, Caitlyn Schuknecht, Adrian Raether, Abbi Heinen, Alex Jones and Kellen Olsen. The directors are Dave and Mary Claerbaut. Performances are at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6, and Saturday, Dec. 7. Admission is $5. Photo by Sam Arendt
It’s often tricky enough for teens to play someone they’re not when they’re on stage in front of family and friends.
Most of the cast members in “The Murder Mystery at the Murder Mystery” are playing two roles, and one calls for a British accent.
Cedar Grove-Belgium’s fall play depicts a group of actors putting on a British murder mystery in Cheboyan, Mich (a real city).
For some of the cast, playing at least one of their characters is a leap. For others, the roles come more naturally.
Senior Nolan Hill plays Mr. Polk, “a more reserved man who loves playing a nice round of billiards with his buddy and is a good father figure.”
Mr. Polk’s character is Richard Green.
“He tries his best to be a serious actor who tries to put out good ideas and have input on everything but he’s constantly shut down by the director, and a lot of the time he’s a little confused about what is happening,” Hill said.
Hill identifies with Green.
“Definitely Richard reflects me because I was almost always confused when we were practicing,” he said.
Hill has the second-most lines in the play, but nine of them are the same — “Put a little more English on it,” which is the title of the play within the play.
Senior Evelyn Ramos-Garcia plays Misty, who portrays a maid.
“Misty and the maid are very alike. They’re both very nervous and anxious about everything, and both exclaim their worry about everything going on,” she said.
Ramos-Garcia said she doesn’t get as upset as her characters, but she also doesn’t act often. This is her second year in the play.
“I don’t really do things where I’m speaking in front of people or acting to be someone different,” she said.
So she might actually be nervous come Friday night when the curtain rises.
“Maybe I am like my character,” she said.
As a maid, Ramos-Garcia also has to dust. She is confident her mother will ask for repeat performances at home.
“When she sees me (dusting), yeah,” she said.
Senior Anna Jerabek said she is not like either of her characters. Sandy — “hyper and excited a lot” — plays Gertrude, the proper daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Polk.
“I just sit there and smile a lot,” she said.
Senior Iris Goff plays Holly, a “smart, sarcastic, kind of snarky” actress who plays Mrs. Polk, an uptight wife who “wants things to be a certain way.”
Senior Caitlyn Schuknecht portrays Scarlet, who she said is “very snarky, a diva. She likes to get in a lot of arguments. Everything’s ‘My way or the highway.’ Me and the director tend to argue a lot. She’s my archnemesis.”
Scarlet plays Ms. Polly, who is “more calm and relaxed and goes along with everything.”
Between the two, Schuknecht said, she is “definitely” more like Scarlet.
“I would say it’s more out there but it’s inside me,” she said.
The director Scarlet keeps arguing with is played by senior Emma Heisler, who has the most lines in the play even though she only plays one character.
“It’s fun. I kind of get to yell at people on stage,” Heisler said.
Heisler claims she doesn’t yell at people in real life, nor does the rest of the cast. The camaraderie is what keeps some of them in theater.
“It’s a lot of fun working with friends every day,” Goff said.
Schuknecht said, “I like the people and hanging out with the group and the fact that every year there’s new people in it. It helps getting to know people and you connect with them, which helps build connections with your characters too.”
The group has connected with longtime director Dave Claerbaut over the years, and this year his wife Mary is co-directing.
The play will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6, and Saturday, Dec. 7, at the middle school auditorium. Admission is $5.
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