About the Play:

Any Number Can Die is a full-length murder-mystery comedy by Fred Carmichael. A rich recluse has died and his relatives and others are gathered in a spooky old house for the midnight reading of his will. But one by one, their number is whittled down by an ingenious murderer in this comic parody of an Agatha Christie play. Who is the murderer? Where is the money? Who will survive and inherit the elusive fortune?

Any Number Can Die is an affectionate spoof of the popular Agatha Christie plays that thrilled audiences for decades. This story brings together a group of beneficiaries from a rich old man's will on a deserted island in a creepy old mansion. Some appear to know of each other, some not, and all are present to hear the reading of the will and find out what they have been bequeathed. And everyone is curious about rumours of a hidden treasure. However, they slowly start dying, one by one, in a series of four ingenious murders. The ever popular storm, the unexpected guests, the cryptic poem, and the missing fortune all add to the intricate and inventive mystery off which the laughs bounce. The 12 cast members, including two novice detectives set to work on their first case, must struggle to survive their cliched fate while at the same time figuring out the eternal question: whodunit?

Any Number Can Die premiered in 1964 at the Dorset Playhouse in Dorset, Vermont by the Caravan Theatre Summer Stock Company. It's been a popular and a favourite play for high school, college, and community theatre productions ever since.

Cast: 5 female, 7 male

What people say:

"Genuine comedy... worth your money for laughs... worth your time as a fabulous display of tricks... guaranteed completely screwball evening." — Bennington Banner

"Any Number Can Die has all the makings of a good old-fashioned mystery, a take-off on the popular plays of the roaring 1920s, with plenty of action to give the audience, first riveted, and secondly laughing at the shenanigans." — The Daily Courier

"Much of the fun of Any Number Can Die comes from familiarity with the genre, which Carmichael spoofs with a knowing wink at the audience ... Any Number Can Die gets a WOW! for being such an unexpected delight." — StageSceneLA

About the Playwright:

Fred Carmichael (1924-2009) was an American playwright and actor. After years of touring and summer stock theatre, he and his director wife decided to have their own theatre and moved to Dorset, Vermont in 1949 and began a long running relationship with the Dorset Players until 1976, producing a full season of summer theatre. From the early 1950s through the mid-1990s, he wrote over 50 comedies and murder-mystery comedies many of which premiered at the Dorset Playhouse. It was once said about his plays that "Fred Carmichael is a deft plotter – crucial to the mystery form – but his light touch turns standard whodunits into comedic soufflés."