Credit: Chronicle.lu
On Friday 14 June 2024, the Luxembourg European Association of Performing Arts (LEAPA) organised their 6th Murder Mystery Dinner aboard the Princesse Marie-Astrid which set sail from Grevenmacher.
With 146 people on board, it set sail and first went north-east past Mertert and Wasserbillig, and where the Sauer river enters the Moselle, and on as far as Konz, were the Saar river joins the Moselle; it then ventured back the way it came, taking three hours in total.
However, it took another hour for the murderer to be revealed...
Back story & characters: Today is the 60th birthday of eminent Luxembourg winegrower, Maurice Bernard (Bjorn Clasen). Owner and President of the historic Maurice Bernard Estate. He is celebrating with a dinner on a boat on the Moselle, sailing past his vineyards. 20 years ago to the day, Maurice's wife Katie unexpectedly ran off with the vineyard manager Jacques Lebouef, leaving her husband and young children (Sophie, aged 5 and Christian, aged 18 months). A few postcards from Katie followed, saying she had found a new life and did not want to be found. There has been no contact since.
Janet, Katie's sister (Lindsay Wegleitner), was visiting at the time of the elopement. She settled permanently in Luxembourg, at first as aunt and guardian to the young family in case anything happened to Maurice, then working for the Mauice Bernard Estate, of which she is now Vice-President.
Louise (Ariane Spicq) was the family's au pair at the time of the elopement: she stayed on as housekeeper to the family.
Sophie (Kim Birel) has recently returned to Luxembourg after completing a double Masters in viticulture and oenology in Bordeaux.
Chris/Christian (Gilles Fernandez Mota) is studying for an MBA in Luxembourg, repeating his first year.
Pia (Sabrina Fernandez) joined the firm two years ago as PA to Maurice Bernard, and now also has a social media and marketing role. Maurice has asker her to film his speech at dinner, where he intends to make some surprise announcements.
Pol Roger (Pierre-Yves Lanneau Saint Léger) is a local historian who has been exploring the Bernard estate for the past week, looking for evidence of historic wine cultivation.
Following a welcome cocktail and all those attending seated comfortably on tables of up to eight, Act 1 "The Party Arrives" got underway, with tensions rising to the surface as family revelations are made, not least of which concerns Maurice Bernard about to make changes to his will. The 25-minute opening act ends with one of the characters being killed...
Following the starter being served, Act 2 "Earlier that Day", the audience was treated to a number of scenes that had taken place earlier that day which had been captured by Pia on her video recorder. These revealed that multiple people were deeply unhappy with Maurice Bernard for a variety of different reasons, with various threats being made against him, both to his face and behind his back.
Then it was time for the main course during which the conversation was mainly about the plots and sub-plots that had unfolded during the first two acts. Act 3 "The Investigation" involved both audience participation, with each table asking a question to one of the suspects, with the characters all involved in improv to different degrees. Also, the audience voted for one of the scenes to be re-performed.
Following dessert, Act 4 "The Reveal" did exactly that, it revealed the murderer in true Hercule Poirot style, with the characters all seated while the inspector (...) explained first that all had means, motive and opportunity before revealing what had happened, how and why and - most importantly - who the murderer was. This was followed by a full confession, with the audience leaving with all loose ends nicely and neatly tied.
The event had been organised by LEAPA President, Rose Flammant, with Tony Kingston directing and June Lowery - who also wrote the script - producing.
