On Friday, June 14, the Mad River Theater Works Summer Camp concluded with a performance of the original play It’s All a Mystery at the Foundry Theater in Yellow Springs. The play was written and performed by students at the camp, who ranged in age from 8 to 17 years old. Before the performance, students and instructors from the ten day summer camp visited WYSO’s studios for a live interview and performance on Midday Music, hosted by Evan Miller.
Founded in 1978, Mad River Theater Works is a Yellow Spring-based theater company that aims to challenge racism, sexism, and intolerance through its productions. Over its 40-year history, the company has created more than 30 original plays and reaches an annual audience of over 90,000 people through national tours and educational residencies, including an annual youth summer camp.
It’s All a Mystery is a series of vignettes and musical interludes concocted by students at the camp. In breakout rooms led by older and returning students, the campers worked together to craft scenes related to the theme of “mystery.”
Emmy, a student at Fairborn High School and the oldest camper, said her group created a murder mystery. “We are the first scene,” she told Evan. “It’s a murder mystery / comedy set in the south, with an evil villain, a two-faced henchman, our poor victim–of course– and our protagonists, myself and Lucia—the Strawberry Squad. We are the detectives.”
Maggie, another camper, also co-wrote a comedic murder mystery set in New New York, the recurring fictional city from Fox's animated series Futurama. “I’m the main detective, and one of my friends gets murdered,” she said. “There are a lot of little jokes that tie into everything… so it’s not all like, ‘oh my god this person died!’” Maggie also helped build the set for It’s All a Mystery.
Other campers departed from established genres, like the murder mystery, while still engaging with the play’s central theme. Andre, 13, a homeschooled student who lives in Dayton, described his scene. “I am a famous engineer, who just about no one knows, who uses tape to make magical hats for the army,” he said “I’ve lost my tape at the beginning of the scene, and that’s where the scene starts.”
Chris Westhoff, Director of Mad River Theater Works, accompanied the students on guitar as they performed several songs from the show live on WYSO. According to Westhoff, placing students in mixed-age groups fosters not only learning, but a sense of self-confidence. “There is a degree of respect that is conferred to everyone,” he said, “Just because you’re younger doesn’t mean you don’t have something of value to add.”
It’s All a Mystery premiered at 7:00 pm on June 14. For more information about Mad River Theater Works, including updates on upcoming performances, visit madrivertheater.com.
Text by Peter Day based on an interview hosted by Evan Miller on June 14, 2024.
