'Cafe Murder'

MOSES LAKE — The audience plays detective at “Cafe Murder,” taking the stage Friday and Saturday in Moses Lake.

“Cafe Murder,” a collaboration between Columbia Basin Allied Arts and Sunshine Performing Arts, is a dinner theater production where guests enjoy a meal and a mystery play and then solve the mystery themselves over dessert.

“Dinner theater is basically the great American pastime for the arts,” CBAA Executive Director Shawn Cardwell wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. “It’s being offered in towns all around us, but not here in Grant County, so we thought, ‘Let’s do it!’”

The setting is a restaurant-inside-a-restaurant: the Cafe Murder, named in honor of the chef’s (Emily Duvall) famous vegetarian blackbird pie, the Maître d’ (Clark Dalton) explains. Rosemary Saint-John (Victoria Drake) is celebrating her birthday with Marjorie, Melanie, Valerie and Volleny (Virginia Berry-Stearns, Becca Grommesh, Rebecca Dalton and Dave Stearns, respectively). Rosemary is no happy-go-lucky birthday girl; she’s loud, rude and claims to be allergic to water, tormenting the chef and the waitress (Zhané Serrano) with her histrionics. When she’s found dead in the ladies’ room, along comes Detective Harris (Justin Martin) to solve the crime. With some help, of course, from the audience.

The dinner part of the dinner theater, provided by Best Western Plus Lake Front Hotel, consists of lasagna or chicken alfredo, plus sides, salad and dessert, according to the announcement. Soft drinks are included, and there’s a no-host bar.

“We are incredibly grateful to be collaborating with CBAA to bring something fresh and new to our community,” said Serrano, a founding member of Sunshine Performing Arts.

‘Cafe Murder’

Jan. 23 and 24

Best Western Plus Lake Front Hotel

3000 W. Marina Drive

Moses Lake

Doors open 6 p.m., dinner 6:30 p.m., show begins 7 p.m.

Tickets available at www.cba-arts.org