BUCKHANNON, West Virginia – Tickets are on sale now for West Virginia Wesleyan College Department of Theatre and Dance’s new murder mystery dinner theatre, “The Case of the Unwanted Ghost.”

Written and directed by Associate Professor Gregory Mach, this silly and spooky murder mystery dinner theatre show concerns four psychics who have gathered on the 10th anniversary of the murder of the greatest psychic of them all, Yanna Bloodlord, to summon her spirit and reveal who murdered her. Can their otherworldly energies combine to bring her back, and is hers the only murder concerning the group on this special night? Music, laughs, great food and a ghostly presence or two guarantee a night of howling good fun!

“The Theatre and Dance Department at WVWC puts on a murder mystery at regional venues every other year, and these are always a lot of fun for the actors and the audiences,” Mach said. “Actors learn how to play broad, villainous characters, practice their comic timing and hone their improvisation skills. Audiences get a great meal, listen to fun music and get to use their wits to unravel the lies from the truth to solve a goofy murder. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.”

For Mach, the fun is in writing the play.

“I really enjoy a good mystery, and writing these plays is so much fun – leading the audience astray with red herrings, making up despicable characters for them to enjoy, and finding that right balance between too complex and too easy in creating the storyline.”

“I always try to add an element or two to my new scripts that I’ve never seen in a murder mystery before,” he said. “This show has a character that doesn’t speak English, so that makes questioning this suspect a lot harder and adds a lot of laughs as the characters – and audience – get frustrated by all the mix-ups in communication and understanding.”

Performances run Friday and Saturday, March 31 and April 1 at 6 p.m. at the Buckhannon Opera House. Call 304-472-8369 for info and reservations. The ticket price is $30 and includes a dinner menu of stuffed chicken breast, salad, homestyle green beans, mashed potatoes with peppercorn gravy, artisan rolls, strawberry shortcake and water, soda and coffee. A cash bar is extra.

An additional performance runs Friday, April 7 at 6 p.m. at the Gandy Dancer Theatre in Elkins. Call 304-636-4935 for information and reservations. Tickets are $35 and include a dinner menu of chicken cordon blue, hamburger steak with gravy, green beans, coleslaw, rolls and dessert.

A Saturday, April 8 dinner theatre production at The Lodge in Alpena is already sold out.