IPSWICH HIGH SCHOOL STAGES FULL-BLOWN VERSION OF ‘THE JUNEBUG MYSTERY’

The Drama Department of Ipswich High in northeastern Massachusetts showed great theatrical flare recently by staging their own version of “The Junebug Mystery”.   The radio-play for those who forget is set in Hyannisport at the Kennedy Compound in 1962 when JFK was president.  The story purports to be the first time Captain Underhill and Doctor Scofield meet and have their first case together, when the then Deputy Underhill  stumbles upon a plot to assassinate President Kennedy by a psychopath who thinks he’s  John Wilkes Booth.  The talented Ipswich students led by their drama coach, Deborah Faust, took the radio script and performed it as a stage play with sets, and then embedded the mystery back into the genre of radio by inventing their own station, WILD, that played hits from that era, with songs sung and soloed by the students.  The production featured elaborate sets,  60’s period costumes, a slide show of the Kennedy Compound and Cape at the time of the story and live DJs interspersed between the musical numbers.    Asked to comment, the author professes to be amazed, not only by the outstanding level of effort and talent that went into it, but that they would dare to cast Doctor Scofield as a woman and make it work.   Shockingly, it does . . . okay.  But this is a slippery slope.  What next: Sherlock Holmes and  Dolly Watson ?

Those wishing to see for themselves can order a DVD copy  by contacting Ms. Faust at the Drama Department ,Ipswich High School, 134 High Street, Ipswich, MA. 01938-1247.