Dinner and a Murder: Act4Murder a Going Concern in Area Theater
By Bruce Collier September 8, 2005 Issue

Paula Hilton is one of those rare theater entrepreneurs that can write a play, cast it, direct it, and give advice on what food and wine to pair with it. Though the menu can vary, the subject of her plays is always the same—murder, with a high comic flavor.

Act4Murder is the brainchild of Paula Hilton, a native of Washington State whose extensive travels and experiences as an Air Force brat eventually brought her to this area. Prior to moving here, Hilton earned a bachelor of general studies degree from Weber State College in Ogden, Utah. “Those non-Mormons were pretty wild,” she says. Hilton spread her studies among music, history, and psychology, with music being her strongest but most troubling interest.

“I couldn’t imagine myself performing onstage,” she says of those days. Eventually Hilton moved to San Francisco, and got up the nerve to get a chorus part in a production of The Sound of Music. “I loved it,” she says. “I still consider myself a singer.”

In San Francisco, she made her first acquaintance with the mystery theater genre. “I met these two women who were doing mystery theater in the area.” After seeing a few shows, she realized that, “Heck, I could write these.” And so she did. Hilton eventually moved to Fort Walton Beach to be closer to her mother and sister. A charity fundraiser in need of a program led to the first local production of Peace, Love and Murder in 2003.

Seven plays later, Hilton has established the Act4Murder Company; a varying repertory troupe of actors, performing in specially booked restaurants. For a fixed price, audiences enjoy a meal and a show, all at the same time.

“I work with the kitchen on the menu,” says Hilton. “We have to be careful about serving items that might have to be sent back, such as filet mignon. That would delay the play.”

Actors perform the plays in close proximity to the diners, walking among them, interacting to whatever degree is comfortable, and timing the plays with the service of courses. Hilton strives to keep to a schedule.

“I like to start the cash bar at 6:15, with curtain at 7, and end the show by 9:30.”

As for the plays themselves, they can best be described as highly comic, frequently campy, always over the top whodunits. The seven titles currently in repertory are On Stage for Murder, Bedlam in Cabin B, Deadly Vows, Peace, Love and Murder, Good Grape Hunting, Football Fever, and Muscling in on Murder. Hilton has just completed her eighth play, a Halloween piece called Murder at the Monster Bash. Weather conditions prevented a recent read through, but Hilton says she has three bookings scheduled for her latest. Coming next is a Christmas play, as yet untitled.

This is a money-making enterprise, and Hilton’s actors are paid for their work. She is proud of her picks, most of whom come to her through word-of-mouth references. “My troupe is made up of the best actors in the area, who are very professional and very funny.”

Even so, both Hilton and most of her actors have day jobs. Hilton works as a software engineer for a company at Eglin. The mystery dinner theater genre is ideal, she says, for working people. “The plays are very structured, and they need fewer rehearsals. They suit busy people.”

Ticket prices for dinner and a show vary, generally in the area of $50 per person. “That’s a significant amount of money,” says Hilton. “So I want everyone who sees one of my shows to feel like they are getting their money’s worth. Not just in terms of a delicious meal, but that they are entertained in an enjoyable and memorable way.”

One of the original company members, still active, is Kay Yarbrough. Yarbrough was on the board of the charity fundraiser that offered the original production of Peace, Love and Murder. Though she now lives in Montgomery, Yarbrough maintains ties with the company, and is still in the cast of three of the productions.

“I love it,” she says. “The casts are all very close. Paula is very talented, and we enjoy her.”

A newcomer to the company is Bruce Culpepper, an actor and teacher living in DeFuniak Springs. “It’s a very professional atmosphere, very professional people,” he says, adding “They even feed us at rehearsals.” Culpepper is currently cast in the mob comedy Muscling in on Murder, and in On Stage for Murder.

The latter, says Hilton, is her favorite of her plays. After a pause, she adds, “Well, actually my favorite is whatever one I’m rehearsing right now.”

Act4Murder has a website, at www.act4murder.com. It is the best place to go for details on plays, scheduled performances, and booking information.

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