Genre: Mystery, Drama, Stage Play

Length: 95 minutes, one intermission

Casting
Cast without reference to race, skin tone, or ethnicity.
2 women, middle-age
1 woman, twenties
1 man, early thirties
2 men, middle age

Synopsis
In this murder mystery, the CEO of a one-company town has invited a group to her home: the corporate lawyer, a state haz-mat regulator, the mayor, a professional meeting facilitator, and a whistle-blower alleging dangerous chemical leaks. The CEO’s intended civil discussion degenerates into argument, a sudden storm isolates the house, one of the guests turns up dead and another is attacked. Their mutual investigations reveal dirty secrets.

Excerpt
Hugo: You want to talk homicide, Robin?
Robin: I think we should tie this guy up.
Hugo: Just try it. Take a look at the valley tomorrow morning, when it’s clear. Over there , the refinery with the tank farm above it. Just look at the slope. You don’t need to be a hydrologist to see how the poisons seep through the top soil and the ground water down to the flats where you people don’t go unless you have to. You don’t worry about it because you all live in the hills with your own private water supplies. That’s what I call homicidal.
Robin: You can’t deflect this away, Hugo. You were in a rage when you found Avery and you hit her on the head with a rock, didn’t you?

Production needs summary
Set
A large living room in a cabin deliberately made to look “rustic” with rough wood furniture.

Time: The present.

Costumes
Modern casual. Two men are in tennis duds.

Props
Dishes, glasses, food. A couple of expensive-looking vases–one of which is a broken version of the other..

Sound and lighting
Doorbell. Sound of a front door opening and closing. Thunder and lightening.

Production History
Several staged readings.