Class Of '06: A Murder Mystery is an Australian murder mystery play written in 2016. It takes place at a ten-year high school reunion, and the tensions and rivalries that resurface drive the plot. The first act culminates in the murder of one of the guests, after a lengthy buildup of Red Herrings and misdirection. The second act focuses on the efforts of a few of the guests to solve the murder and bring about justice.The play features an Ensemble Cast, although there is a core group of about ten characters who are very important to the plot.This work was originally written for a roving audience, where the audience would walk to different parts of the school to see the scenes unfold.
Class Of '06 contains examples of:
- The Alcoholic: Most of the cast, but especially Smith who spends the entire play in a state of inebriation.
- Berserk Button:
- Don't hurt Mark in front of Tom.
- Don't mess up Valerie's best laid plans, even by accident.
- Don't make fun of Mundy's name. He will do... something!
- Beware the Nice Ones: Valerie seems harmless enough, until you get her mad.
- Cassandra Truth: Nobody believes Cloudcuckoolander Madonna that somebody will die at the reunion. Welp...
- Catchphrase: 'Suspicious' for Watson. Borrowed by Lucy, Mark and Antony.
- Cerebus Syndrome: The first act is lighthearted and comedic, until the body is found.
- Character Development:
- As the play progresses, Lucy changes from awkward and nerdy to taking control of a murder investigation.
- Mark also starts the play as a slightly callous person, but emerges at the end as righteous and badass.
- Character Focus
- Childhood Friends: Mark, Tom, Mundy, Nigel and Asmodeus were all fairly close in school.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Everyone swears. Then again, it is an Australian work...
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Sorry, Tom and Ash's kid. Your dad's gay!
- Dark and Troubled Past: More or less everyone.
- Dysfunction Junction: The stories of the characters are riddled with drug use, mental illness, teenage pregnancy, unrequited love, failed dreams, alcoholism and self-hatred.
- Ensemble Cast
- Everyone Went to School Together: Justified, as it's set at a school reunion.
- Expy: Quite a few.
- Luna is Luna Lovegood.
- Donaldo is Donald Trump
- Walt is Walter White.
- Foregone Conclusion: Someone dies. It's in the title.
- Genre Savvy: Watson thinks she's this. Lucy actually is.
- Growing Up Sucks: If your life is a Dysfunction Junction, then sure.
- Handshake Refusal: Asmo refuses to let Lucy hug him.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Blair and Helen, to the point of marrying rich brothers to become sisters.
- Hidden Depths: Helen is not as nasty as initially depicted, she simply follows Blair in all her choices.
- Insistent Terminology:
- Madonna's book is the Rat In the Hat.
- Watson insists on calling herself Sherlock and Lucy Watson.
- Love Triangle: Between Mark, Summer and Tom.
- Meaningful Name: Asmodeus Vellenno. Asmodeus was a fallen angel, and Vellenno means poison in Italian. He's an Ambiguously Human doctor specialising in poisons.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Good job on Bitch Slapping Mark in front of Tom, Summer.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Donaldo totally isn't Donald Trump. Just a rich businessman who happens to look and act a lot like him.
- Noodle Incident: 'That time at year seven camp, with the lobster'.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Watson may act silly and hammy, but is a truly excellent detective when she tries.
- Odd Friendship: Watson and Lucy. One's a depressed, awkward comics nerd, the other a hammy wannabe-detective with delusions of grandeur.
- Oh, Crap!:
- When Lucy discovers the body.
- Just prior to the above, when Antony pulls a knife on Madonna.
- Revenge by Proxy: Tom gets revenge on Summer on behalf of Mark, much to Mark's displeasure.
- Smug Snake:
- Blair and Helen, laughing at how fat everyone has become in the last ten years.
- Silva and Donaldo, showing off their yachts and silver rings. Gloating about how Greece's financial crisis makes everything so cheap.
- The Sociopath: Asmodeus is incredibly callous and uncaring, but it's implied that he simply can't understand how people feel emotions.
- Soapbox Sadie: Ash speaking about how she likes her job and doesn't need Blair and the others judging her. (She poledances).
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Despite her eagerness for a case, Watson is clearly out of her depth when confronted with an actual murder.
- This Is Reality: Lucy:This isn't a game. Someone's dead here.
- Token Minority: Tom is gay.
- The Trickster: Keith. To the point of bringing fireworks to the school reunion, picking Walt up by the ankles and spilling Silva's drink all over his expensive suit.
- Two-Act Structure
- Unscientific Science: Asmo is a GP who somehow created an alcohol-soluble semi-sentient creature in his apartment.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Madonna and Antony don't even notice the body in the art room.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: What happened to the three dollars Tom owed Smith?
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Where is the school this play is set in?
