Aviation Hall of Fame serving up murder, mystery and barbeque at this event

It will be nights of fun and mystery as the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame presents performances of its sixth annual murder mystery dinner theater.

This year’s show, “Trailer Park Tragedy,” directed and produced by Nicole Bissette and Tyler Bryant, is set in the W.T. Trailer Park during the park’s annual barbecue. The show features a host of colorful characters, according to Bryant.

“There is a know-it-all, a resident that has been shot in the leg, truckers, even ladies of the night, let’s call them, any stereotype you can think of in a trailer park and we poke fun at that,” he said.

Fourteen actors are involved in the show; Bryant himself has a role. The characters and the evidence of the murder come courtesy of a murder mystery website, but everything else is up to the actor and the directors.

“It is all improv,” said Bryant. “Each actor comes up with their character’s own back story and the reasons why they did or didn’t do what they did. I love that the actors have a chance to play to the audience in a way that the audience gets to play back. There is no fourth wall in this show. It is theater that is unique because the audience is part of it.”

The format, according to Bryant, makes his job easier and the actors’ jobs a little harder.

“It gives the actors the chance to do something different, but it can be difficult for actors when there isn’t a set script. For me, it is easier because I don’t have to worry about them going off script because there is no script,” said Bryant.

In the play, all the neighbors are invited to the barbeque.

“All the good for-nothing neighbors are invited to the barbecue, the audience is the good for-nothing neighbors. It is very interactive,” Bryant said. “The audience will have name tags and our characters can come sit with them or ask them questions. At the end of the night, we might know more about your secrets than you know about our secrets.”

Bryant described the cast as the “cream of the crop” of regional theater.

“Every year, it is such a compliment, we will have people that want to hire us for a party they are hosting or for their own nonprofit fundraiser thinking we are a professional troupe when we are all just volunteers that love theater,” Bryant said.

He said check in/social time will begin at 6:45 p.m. each night of a show and that guests will want to arrive in plenty of time; extra hints and clues will be provided during the social time. The show will start at 7:30 each night. Guests are encouraged to dress up in trailer park attire.

The dinner theater meal is a full barbecue menu to go along with the trailer park theme: pulled pork, Texas toast, western beans, mac and cheese, coleslaw and peach cobbler. A vegetarian option is available with advance notice.

Alline Kent can be contacted at allinekent@cox.net.

This story was originally published November 6, 2017 at 9:55 PM with the headline "Aviation Hall of Fame serving up murder, mystery and barbeque at this event."