‘Murder Girl’ is a whodunit with a Wisconsin twist

What do you get when you mix brandy, cherries and … murder? An old-fashioned whodunit set in Wisconsin!

The mystery comedy play “Murder Girl” had its world premiere earlier this month at the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison. The story comes from the mind of actor and playwright Heidi Armbruster, who grew up near Waunakee and now splits her time between Wisconsin and New York City.

Armbruster told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that after moving to New York for her acting career, she felt a “real calling” to write about the place where she was from. Her previous plays include “Dairyland,” a comedy set in a fictional farm in Wisconsin modeled after her father’s dairy farm, and “Scarecrow,” a one-woman show about grief that premiered in Milwaukee earlier this year with Armbruster in the leading role.

Along the way, Armbruster has been writing in the mystery genre, including “Mrs. Christie,” a creative retelling of the 11 days that famed mystery writer Agatha Christie went missing.

“Murder mysteries are having a cultural zeitgeist moment right now,” she said.

Armbruster told WPR that she read Agatha Christie novels when she was a child, but as an adult she dismissed her as an author “for old lady book clubs and middle school students.”

“Then at a tough time in my life, I came back to them, and I found Agatha Christie to be a very good friend. She’s loyal and she’s consistent and reliable,” Armbruster said. “In my mind, Agatha Christie is the patron saint of organizing chaos and making a puzzle and a game out of the solution.”

When writing “Murder Girl,” Armbruster drew on the classic murder mystery formula: The stage is set and the world is introduced. A body is discovered. Suspicions start to arise and escalate until pandemonium breaks out. Finally, the puzzle pieces come together in a satisfying conclusion.

Of course, Armbruster adds her own twists. Instead of taking place in an English manor or a Belgian train, “Murder Girl” leans into its rural Wisconsin setting. There are no on-stage detectives, only a motley cast of six characters who all work together in a family-run supper club in the Northwoods.

“Instead of using these Agatha Christie archetypes, we’re relying on people that we would meet if we went to Friday night fish fry at our local (bar),” Armbruster said.

Bringing ‘Murder Girl’ to the stage

Jennifer Uphoff Gray, the artistic director of Forward Theater Company who is directing the premiere run of “Murder Girl,” said it has been exciting to see the show go from page to stage.

“We really are taking this beautiful text that Heidi has written and then being the first ones to figure out how to make it fully three-dimensional,” she said. 

Uphoff Gray, also a Wisconsin native, said it’s important to her for the Wisconsin character of the show to feel authentic, not forced.

“I have read quite a few plays set in Wisconsin that were not written by Wisconsin people, and needless to say, we haven’t produced any of them (at Forward Theater Company),” she said with a laugh. “There are tons of Wisconsin jokes in this play. There are so many wonderful Packers references and beer references and all the good things that we relish about our state character, but at no point is any of it poking fun. It is embracing and celebrating our culture.”

To lend additional authenticity to the performance and give it more of a Northwoods feel, the cast worked with a dialect coach. The set design was also quintessentially “supper club,” with Blatz and Spotted Cow signs behind the bar and thick red vinyl tablecloths dotting the dining area.

But for Uphoff Gray, more important than this local flair is the message at the heart of the play, which is about leaning on your community when you need them most.

“While there’s comedy, and there’s mystery and family trauma and all kinds of other things, ultimately, this is a play about people taking care of their found family. And that feels pretty necessary right now,” Uphoff Gray said.

Performances of “Murder Girl” continue through Nov. 24 at The Playhouse in the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison. A filmed version of the play will be available to stream through Nov. 24. Information and tickets available at forwardtheater.com.

Editor’s note: Forward Theater is a business sponsor of WPR.