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Theatre Orangeville promises comedy and intrigue in latest production, “Murder at Ackerton Manor”

February 26, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Joshua Drakes 

Fans of Agatha Christie and Mel Brooks should be marking their calendars for March 13, as Theatre Orangeville prepares to premiere its next production, Murder at Ackerton Manor.

Written by award-winning playwright Steven Gallagher, Murder at Ackerton Manor is a comedic homage to classic Agatha Christie-style murder mysteries. The plot is set in the depths of a Victorian-era manor, owned by the less-than-savoury Roger Ackerton, Lord of Ackerton Manor.

What begins as a dark and stormy night soon turns tragic as Roger Ackerton is found to be murdered. Promptly, a detective is called, who will have the challenging task of finding the culprit and recovering a missing diamond, all while dealing with five unique and eccentric suspects in the house.

Within all of this chaos is a cast of three talented actors, Jamie Cavanagh, Tyrone Savage and Christy Bruce, who will portray seven eccentric personalities in a fast-paced murder-mystery comedy.

Murder at Ackerton Manor is being billed by its cast as “Agatha Christie crossed with Mel Brooks,” a combination that perfectly captures its tone.

“It’s a very Agatha Christie, Mousetrap-style thing, but the plot feels like a fever dream of every murder mystery you’ve seen,” Savage said. “That’s the Mel Brooks element — we take all the tropes and reimagine them.”

But layered over that murder plot is a sharp, irreverent comedy: big characters, bold choices, rapid-fire gags, and a cast constantly flipping between wildly different roles, accents, and even genders. The actors stress that while audiences will laugh — a lot — they’ll also have a genuine mystery to follow.

“It’s a ridiculous play — really funny — but it’s also a true murder mystery,” Savage said. “You can follow along the story and try to solve it, and if you pay close enough attention to detail, you absolutely can solve it. But you don’t need to at all to enjoy the production.”

The production process so far has been intense and fast. The company is only about five days into rehearsals, working six days a week on full-day schedules, then heading home to reread the script, learn lines, and dream up new bits.

Much of the show’s magic will unfold backstage, where split-second costume changes and character swaps are being drilled over and over.

“It’s very fast, very, very fast to the amount of stuff that we’re doing,” Bruce said. “So, it’s like, you get thrown into the deep end, and you just start swimming. I find it more fun, but I’m an improviser, so I need things to distract me, to keep me on my toes.”

The script by Gallagher is described as deliberately difficult, engineered to push the performers and stage crew to their limits, but the cast describes the experience as pure play. What they promise in return: a tightly crafted, high-energy, laugh-filled night at the theatre.

“Steven Gallagher, the playwright, has also written the play to really challenge our capacity to make those switches,” Cavanagh said. “Steven has designed this play specifically to really make it hard on us. But that’s part of the fun as well.”

Despite the tight timelines for wardrobe changes and the challenging nature of the script, Savage said that writing is equally well planned as it is difficult. But everything planned can be achieved, and one of the fun elements of this production is figuring out how to pull it all off.

“Steven Gallagher’s script is so tightly written that he’s figured out all of those bits,” he said. “There’s some things when you read on the page, it seems improbable that one actor can leave, come back on as another person while having this conversation. And that’s been a joy — discovering how we make all the little magic tricks work.”

That joy is something the cast is excited to share with audiences on opening night. The cast praised the exceptional work of the production team, who are setting the stage for a beautiful visual of Ackerton Manor, which will help the actors transport audiences to a world where Agatha Christie and Mel Brooks are one.

“Watching this show is not going to be a struggle,” Savage said. “It’s going to be really fun and people will laugh a lot. It is a ridiculous play. It’s really funny, but it also is a true murder mystery. You can watch it and laugh, or watch it and think, everyone can enjoy it no matter what.”

“I think, post-pandemic, people got so into their screens and so isolated,” Cavanagh said. “I certainly have noticed, especially in comedies, people leave with this different kind of gratitude for what they have, for what they got to experience with that show, because I think it’s a shared dream with others, and you can’t beat that.”

As the cast and creative team race toward opening night, Murder at Ackerton Manor is shaping up to be both a love letter to classic whodunits and a gleefully unhinged comedy.

With only three actors juggling seven roles, a challenging script, and a storm-soaked manor packed with secrets, Theatre Orangeville audiences can expect a night of big laughs, genuine suspense, and one-of-a-kind in-the-moment experiences.

Murder at Ackerton Manor runs at Theatre Orangeville from March 12 to 29. For more information and tickets, go to theatreorangeville.ca/show/murder-at-ackerton-manor.

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