Students worked hard for the middle school’s successful production of “Murder at Aunt Agatha’s"

Agatha Christie would be proud if she were looking down and taking in the rehearsals by the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School students.

The students practiced for the middle school’s production of “Murder at Aunt Agatha’s,’’’ a comedy murder mystery that was written by Teresa and David Hockman.

The play was staged on Friday, November 17, at the middle school’s auditorium.

Olivia Matko, who is the 7th Grade Theater Arts Teacher at the middle school, is the production’s co-director with Carla Fernandez, who is an 8th Grade English Language Arts teacher at the middle school.

Ms. Matko has the legendary writer Agatha Christie in her thoughts while she watches the middle school students rehearse daily after school for this suspenseful but hilarious presentation. “This play has been so fun to direct,” Ms. Matko revealed. “ I enjoy reading Agatha Christie so it has been interesting to think of how she would stage this mystery.’’

The English-born Ms. Christie gained world-wide fame for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections she crafted before her death in 1976. According to Pioneer Drama Service, which is a publisher of plays and musicals at schools, “Murder at Aunt Agatha’s.’’ is a comedy murder mystery that doesn’t take itself too seriously, even as the dearly departed Aunt Agatha’s nieces and nephews have gathered at her mansion to hear the reading of her will.

As the lawyer begins, there’s more greed than grief permeating the room, which is perhaps why Aunt Agatha stipulated that anyone wanting a share of her money must first survive the night in her house. Too bad she forgot to mention there would be ghosts! But as one family member after another is murdered throughout the night, this almost feels more like an Agatha Christie mystery. Luckily, Detective Sam Club arrives to help find the killer, and he certainly doesn’t believe in ghosts.

Ms. Matko has shared a sense of confidence as the night of the performance approaches.

‘’It is shaping up to be a great play with a fabulous cast and crew,” said Ms. Matko, who is the Drama Club and Musical Advisor for the middle school. She credited the relationships that her student actors and stage crew created that have produced a camaraderie type of feeling, one that will only boost their presentation.

“It is always such a pleasure to see students who are strangers at the beginning of the year turn into family by November. We have such a sweet cast, and what I am most impressed with, is their teamwork and the support they give each other,’’ Ms. Matko said. 
Sahib Bal, an 8th Grader who is portrayed as one of the play’s leading characters, Detective Sam Club, reflects Ms. Matko’s beliefs. “I like my part a lot because I have a lot of lines,” Sahib said. “But I also like it because I am with my best friend a lot, Patrick Abdelmaseeh.’’

Patrick  played the role of one of Aunt Agatha’s nephews, Reggie VanVleet. “Theater people are the best people,” Ms. Matko concluded. The roster of the middle school students in the production of “Murder at Aunt Agatha’s." are below:

Sahib Bal- Sam Club
Patrick Abdelmaseeh- Reggie VanVleet
Sharanya Bhiwapurkar- Rose
Olivia Tang- Mrs. McSwine
Adwita Singh- Bridgette
Michaela Opalenik- Hildegarde
Tilly Madhusoodanan- Gina Starlett
Maura Donahue- Alexandra VanVleet
Jamie Byun- Maxie
Kyle Johnson- Mr. Earl
Angie Yang- Mrs. Earl
Noelle Sapp- Willima Cleanyou
Sharon Javadala- Mrs. VanVleet
Zoe Weinstein- Angie Mae
Sophie White- Becky Lou
Cassidy Caruthers- Bobby Sue
Anneliese Redler- Earlene
Shaant Sachdeva- Earl Jr
Kyle Sen- Aunt Agatha
Hailey Baron- Ghost Ensemble
Charlotte Dixon - Ghost Ensemble
Madison Mattis - Ghost Ensemble
Anne Siy - Ghost Ensemble
Dara Wolff - Ghost Ensemble
Sofia Green - Ghost Ensemble
Agil Dinesh - Ghost Ensemble
Devin Patel- Student Director
Jesse Jaggi- Student Director
Vicki Huang- Stage Crew
Leena Abdelghany - Stage Crew
Satvik Kosaraju - Stage Crew
Aina Carbonell - Stage Crew
Samhita Subramanian - Stage Crew
Justin Schmidt - Stage Crew
Aidan Tsai - Stage Crew
Julia Li - Stage Crew
Juliana DeJesus - Stage Crew
Lourdes Pe - Stage Crew
Jeremy Kursar - Stage Crew
Aria Mahajan - Stage Crew
Emily Vetro - Stage Crew
Ishaan Singh - Stage Crew
Melanie Martinetti - Stage Crew
Sophia Ava Halili - Stage Crew
Matthew Lopez - Stage Crew
Ananya Sarode - Stage Crew
Sebastian Perez - Stage Crew
Jaiden W-Lopez - Stage Crew
Julia Nekram - Stage Crew
Kate Hinton- Stage Manager
Parvathy Regi- Stage Manager
Varnika Kirthi- Assistant Stage Manager

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