About the Play:

Web of Murder is a full-length comic mystery by Jonathan Troy. Murder, mystery, and mistrust, set in an isolated mansion owned by an irritable, ailing heiress who makes the lives of her daughter, housekeeper and live-in doctor miserable. Fearing imminent death, she calls together her potential heirs for the advance reading of her will. But not everyone will survive the weekend, and as the body count rises, the will disappears, and a diabolic plot is revealed.

Web of Murder is a gripping murder mystery who-dunnit filled with dark family secrets, blackmail, greed, and revenge. Set in a brooding mansion high atop a remote cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the play centers on the wealthy heiress Minerva Osterman, who has convened her potential heirs for an advance reading of her will. Confined to a wheelchair for many years, the domineering Minerva has turned her desolate mansion into a virtual prison – not only for herself, but also for her quiet and long-suffering daughter Stephanie and her gentle and sympathetic housekeeper Nora, as they daren't disobey lest they be disinherited. She is cared for by her personal physician, Dr. Adler, also resides in the mansion. Fearing that her death may be imminent, Minerva has summoned all her possible heirs to watch their reactions as the will is read. She knows that it will please some and disappoint others – unless they take the sinister steps necessary to protect their interests. She asks her two nieces, Mary and Belle, to come alone, but they arrive with their respective fiancés, whom Minerva grudgingly allows to stay. Before revealing the contents of her will, however, she has the mysterious Dr. Adler put her into a hypnotic trance, during which she picks up a deck of cards and turns over the three of clubs – the card of death. Her prediction is that someone in the room will die before the weekend is over – a prediction that comes true when she herself dies. After that, more bodies turn up, and fear and suspicion grow among those remaining. The will mysteriously disappears before it was ever read. In the end, after agonizing twists and turns a murderer is unmasked – in a chilling, exciting climax that is held off until the final perilous moments of the play.

Web of Murder premiered in 1968 at the Glendale Center Theatre (GCT) in Glendale, California. It has been a long-standing favourite of college and community theatre groups and high school drama clubs.

Cast: 5 female, 4 male

About the Playwright:

Jonathan Troy is an American playwright and dramatist. Among his plays are the bewitching comedy All Because of Agatha, the mystery Web of Murder, and the romantic comedy A Handful of Rainbows.