Murder at Camp Murdercamp, a Summer Camp-Themed Murder Mystery Punk Show
An idea transformed into a night of campy-good fun, Murder at Camp Murdercamp was an immersive one-day-only experience demanding audience participation while making light of both grizzly murders and summers long gone.
Organized by Dom DiMaria as an end-of-Summer celebration and musical showcase, it was an exciting opportunity for me to write for a live production. With Dom’s help, I wrote the murder mystery as well as acted as stage manager the day of.
Dom (who personified jock Clunt Grunderson during the event) and I spent months prepping for the show and, undeterred by a surprise bout of Covid that caused a minor delay and scramble to reschedule, the show went off without a hitch (minus all those pesky murders).
Set in the whimsical backyard of Brooklyn’s Rubulad, audience members (henceforth referred to as campers) were greeted with colors, shapes, and sculptures both beautiful and absurd, from an orange tongue large enough to seat two to an assortment of tents, shacks, and small structures to explore.
The rules of the game were simple: anyone in a bright orange shirt was with the show (acting as camp counselors) and completing activities at our four interactive tables would gain the campers clues.
Our first booth was a Cupcake for your Crush with the Caked-up Boy Squad, where two men very comfortable with their masculinity playfully encouraged campers to decorate a cupcake for their special summer love (in between the Caked-up Boy’s frequent frosting fights, of course).
The second booth was creating macrame friendship bracelets, where campers were encouraged to explore their softer side.
The third booth was a photobooth, where Nonna, a totally normal teenager and NOT an old lady pretending to be one, took Polaroid photos of campers, capturing memories for years to come!
And finally, we had fireside chats with the Hot Loner Boy, where campers could sit around the campfire and bond with the camp’s token troubled youth.
Inside Rubulad, campers could find the main stage where the bands would perform as well as the Camp Cook serving MightyBites Protein Pizza Rolls (Patent Pending).
Three lucky campers were selected as murder victims while the first band, Leche Malo (the camp nerds), performed.
Between sets, guitarist Ian McFarland played outside where the first and last murder would take place.
And finally, the scene was set for the first murder! With a lone cord of the melodica, our first victim went down, the s’mores skewer she was “killed” with still clutched in her hands. She was then given a halo and allowed to continue enjoying the event with no additional knowledge of the murders and murderer.
With that, the camp counselors at each booth were able to provide clues to the campers who participated in their activity:
The Caked-up Boy Squad revealed to campers that the s’mores skewer could have been from either the campfire or the kitchen.
At the macrame friendship bracelet booth, campers were told to read the MightyBites Protein Pizza Rolls (Patent Pending) box: “Have you seen what they put in those things, ew.”
Nonna told campers that they could look through the rejected photos taken throughout the night for clues while also informing them, unprompted, “I’m not 80 years old, I’m 16! Just like you!”
The Hot Loner Boy would admit to needing to leave frequently but would not share his reasons why.
And all the camp counselors were able to point out to campers that the Hot Loner Boy, the Camp Cook, and Nonna were nowhere to be seen during the first murder and that any one of them could’ve been the murderer.
Band number two, Goods and Services, our resident jocks, then started playing, unphased by the previous turn of events.
Unfortunately for them (but mostly for our second victim) there was another murder mid-set! This time the victim was stabbed with a knife before being given a halo and allowed to rejoin the festivities.
After the second murder, the Caked-up Boy Squad revealed that the knife could have been from either the campfire or the kitchen while the other camp counselors continued with their clues from earlier. Everyone could also remind campers that the Hot Loner Boy and Nonna were not seen during the aftermath of this particular crime.
The final murder took place outside after Goods and Services finished their set. This time the victim had been hit over the head with a rolling pin. Only the Hot Loner Boy and the Camp Cook were missing from the crowd this time, as Nonna was present as a witness (much to the disappointment of the many campers openly accusing her of the murders).
The Caked-up Boy Squad then revealed to campers that the rolling pin could have come from the kitchen or the craft room.
At the photobooth, astute campers could discover that all the murder victims had been photographed with the box of MightyBites Protein Pizza Rolls (Patent Pending) sometime during the night by searching the pile of discarded photographs.
The traumatized campers were then treated to a set from the camp’s theater kids, Sunnyside Social Club!
The final scene was held right before Sunnyside Social Club’s final song. The Hot Loner Boy was accused of the murders by jock Clunt Grunderson, who pointed out that he was missing during the discovery of each body. The Hot Loner Boy revealed that his frequent absences were because he had insufferable lactose intolerance and was frequenting the bathroom.
Clunt then recognized the Camp Cook from the back of the box of MightyBite Pizza Rolls (Patent Pending) and accused the Camp Cook of secretly being the owner of the company.
The Camp Cook revealed that it was not him on the box, but instead his evil twin, Damien. He went on to confess that Damien had stolen the family recipe for protein pizza rolls and was planning on making millions off of it. Camp Murdercamp was Damien’s testing grounds for the new product, so the Camp Cook got a job at the camp and went on a murder spree to ruin the name of MightyBites Pizza Rolls (Patent Pending) and cause Damien’s company to fail.
But the Camp Cook was a witness to the second murder, how could that be?
The Camp Cook revealed that he had an accomplice: Nonna! She wasn’t really a teenage camper, but instead, the Camp Cook’s 80-year-old grandmother. She didn’t kill that camper for revenge like the Camp Cook, however, she did it because children are the secret ingredient of her pizza roll recipe.
The party ended with a final song from Sunnyside Social Club and a celebration of a show well done!
Jess Charle 