The Bat

July-August 2012

A Play by Mary Roberts Rinehart & Avery Hopwood
Directed by Martin M. Speer
Produced by David Hunt Stafford

This is THE BAT:

Three decades before the Batman, there was another dread creature of the night, a costumed super- criminal called The Bat, and it’s that character that lends his name to this classic mystery play of 1920.

The plundering Bat has been terrorizing the Long Island environs where the wealthy Cornelia Van Gorder has rented a splendid but isolated old home for four months. The house belongs to the Fleming family, and when Richard, the scion of the family is suddenly shot to death on a dark and stormy night, The Bat is not the only available suspect.

Consider: Richard’s father had run the Union Bank, recently robbed, presumably by one of its employees who has gone missing. Could Richard have had something to do with the missing cash? And that’s just it: Cash, lots and lots of it. People have certainly murdered for less.

It soon develops that the Fleming house is chock full of suspects, who lie, have secrets, and move about the place suspiciously: a beautiful girl, a newly hired gardener, the butler, the local doctor, the detective who’s missing when events of moment occur, an intruder, and a suddenly appearing amnesiac. Then, of course, there’s the possibility that The Bat himself might appear.

Who killed Richard Fleming? Only one thing is certain: He won’t be the only one found dead in the mysterious house with a secret passageway and a hidden room ideal for secreting stolen loot.

Who done it?

Join amateur sleuth Cornelia Van Gorder as she uses her wits in an attempt to solve the multiple mysteries of the Fleming house faster than the police detective could solve them.

Starring:

Veronica Cartwright • Ross Alden • Max Bogner • Elizabeth J. Carlisle • Stephen Davies
Madison Mason • Michael Perl • Chris Petschler • Loraine Shields • Yas Takahashi