Murder on the 4.30 to Muriwai

STRANGENESS ON A TRAIN: Dressed in wartime costume, a group of Gisborne Volunteer Centre staff members are ready for a little detective work and a lot of laughs during the interactive murder mystery Steam, Spies and Sabotage next week. Picture supplied

Steam! Spies! Sabotage! Interactive murder mystery Steam, Spies and Sabotage has it all.

Set during World War 2 with characters that include Resistance personnel, Home Guard, MI6 staff “and a couple of others with strange German accents” embark on a steam train ride from Gisborne Railway Station to Muriwai where there is a secret radar station. On board the Wa165 are innocent passengers who will find themselves drawn into a web of deduction and laughs.

The production is closer to the spirit of British TV sitcom, ‘Allo, ‘Allo than a BBC documentary, says the play’s author, director and cast member Dorothy Fletcher.

There are many reasons behind why anyone would want to murder someone, says Fletcher.

“War stuff, personal relations, money — all sorts of reasons.”

It’s up to the passengers to work out whodunnit.

The play unfolds on the train as scenes are acted in each carriage. When the train stops for an hour at Muriwai, passengers will need to keep an eye on shifty business out there too.

On the train ride back to town, passengers can interrogate the murder mystery’s characters. Only the murderer in their midst can make up a lie. The rest must tell the truth.

Passengers are encouraged to dress up in early 1940s style to be part of the adventure. Funds raised from Steam, Spies and Sabotage will be given to Gisborne City Vintage Railway.

Steam, Spies and Sabotage, an interactive murder mystery, Saturday, December 12. The adventure starts at the Gisborne Railway Station at 4.30pm.