About the Play:

Out of Sight... Out of Murder is a full-length murder-mystery comedy by Fred Carmichael. An author sits in an isolated house, trying to work out the plot of his latest thriller. An electrical storm brings his imaginary characters to life! There is a series of murders with Peter, the author, as the intended victim and the culprit among his characters. Can Peter find the killer before the killer gets him?

Out of Sight... Out of Murder is a comedy whodunnit with an intriguing twist. Peter Knight is grinding out a murder story in the living room of a remote and possibly haunted mansion where another author was murdered years before. His career is on the slide and, to save it, he must come up with something special. But what happens next is more incredible than anything he could have imagined. A weird electrical storm effects a cosmic snafu and his characters come to life invading his living room. There are the usual stock characters: the "girl next door," the trusty butler, a feisty Miss Marple-type, a dauntless hero, a fascinating "other woman," the always emotional serving girl, and the wily lawyer waiting for midnight to read the will. Peter looses control of his characters and there is a murder; the intended victim is Peter. Other murders follow and the culprit is among characters who, having also worked for other authors, know a great deal about the subject. Can Peter find the killer before the killer gets his author? Is romance with the "girl next door" leading anywhere? Where is the fortune mentioned in the will? All is solved ingeniously with romance, suspense and cosmic wit.

Out of Sight... Out of Murder premiered in 1982 by the Valley Players in Waitsfield, Vermont, and has been performed in regional repertory, middle school, high school, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 5 women, 4 men

What people say:

"Refreshing, witty parody." — Sharon Patroit Leader

"Uproariously funny." — Greenwich Press Post

"Full of laughs, absorbing and entertaining." — Times Argus, Montpelier

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."