Nobody Panic! (play)

*This article is about the play. For the soundtrack to the play, see Nobody Panic! (Original Production Score).*

## Nobody Panic!

* Primary Poster
* Character Poster

### Release Date

June 1, 2022 (play opening)
June 8, 2022 (YouTube release)

### Crew

Callum Armstrong, Oliver Beckwith, Jordan Dancyger, Linus Ma, Marko Matov (executive team)

### Watch Page

YouTube

***Nobody Panic!*** is a two-act murder mystery/comedy play that was put on at Abbey Park High School. While not strictly an 'Oliver B. Production', the show was co-written and co-directed by Oliver Beckwith, with many Oliver B. Productions associates working on the cast and crew. A full recording of the show was also uploaded to the O.B.P. YouTube channel. The play was performed on June 1st and 3rd, 2022, and centres around a student detective trying to solve the murder of an actor who was found dead mid-performance during a high school play, with the help of the eccentric cast and crew.

## Plot

**WARNING: The following section contains spoilers. Read on at your own risk.**

**Short Synopsis:** When the star of a high school play, Vicky Sweets, drops dead in the middle of the performance, Blake Backster, an aspiring detective, takes charge in order to find the culprit. He interviews various members of the eccentric cast and crew, enlisting the help of the play's assistant director Pamilla Monica, all while the others stew backstage and become increasingly agitated. Eventually, the play's director, William Trench, becomes crazed and accuses Pamilla of the murder before she knocks him unconscious and he is detained. Blake continues with the interrogations and Pamilla and William eventually patch things up. Blake accuses one of the crew, Gwen Stayfer, of the murder on a guess before it is revealed that the true cause of Vicky's death was an accident for which several people were partially responsible. Blake realizes the error of his ways and everyone agrees they've all learned their own valuable lessons over the course of the night, and they all go home.

### Act 1

On June 1st, 2022, an audience gathers in the theatre of Eb Jaycation High School to watch the school's dramatic production for that year. William Trench, the director of the play, comes onstage to deliver a needlessly pretentious and self-obsessed speech about the show. As he leaves, though, he is stopped by Sage Manjeer, the production's stage manager, who informs him of several issues with the show including none of the understudies showing up and the cast and crew starting from the wrong scene. William panics before remembering he is in front of an audience. He reassures them that everything will be fine before dragging Sage behind the curtain and yelling at the cast and crew to get the show going. The curtain then opens and the 'play' begins.

The school play, called "A Hallowed Well", seems to begin near the climax of the story as the two leads, Theodore S. Pian and Vicky Sweets, run onstage, playing a peasant and princess respectively, calling out to each other. Theodore runs to Vicky but bounces off the armour of a royal guard played by Cherry Kiss, falling to the ground. He monologues, describing his pain and agony, before a wizard, played by Arthur Oblong, enters the stage and tells Theodore he will cast a spell to make him "the strongest gent in all the land". He casts his spell but Theodore is transformed into a griffin, complete with wings and a beak. He uses his newfound strength to kill the guard, before Vicky re-enters with an evil prince played by Sebastian Niall. Vicky screams at the sight of Theodore, who is unable to communicate with her due to his new form. Sebastian mourns the death of the guard, before stabbing Theodore with his own sword, slaying him. He leaves as Theodore transforms back into a human. Vicky notices his true form and kneels beside him as he leans against a well, dying. The two leads lament on the situation and how they will never be able to live out their lives with each other. As Theodore passes, Vicky explains that after he dies, the well where they first met will become a "hallowed well" with his noble spirit. Just as she is about to finish her monologue, though, the power to the entire theatre cuts and a shriek is heard. When the power comes back on, Vicky is laying on the stage, motionless.

After a few seconds, Theodore notices Vicky's body and calls out for a line. Slowly, the entire cast and crew of "A Hallowed Well" walk onto the stage to observe the situation. Eventually, Cherry kicks Vicky's body to no response, and declares her dead. This causes everyone onstage to erupt into a panic, with everyone running around and screaming. Suddenly, everyone freezes as Blake Backster gets up from the audience and walks toward the stage, explaining that he is on the case. The cast and crew resume panicking, and Blake tries to calm them to no avail, so he walks backstage and returns with a megaphone. He yells into it, getting everyone's attention and quieting them. He then examines Vicky's body, confirming that she is dead. Cherry approaches him and demands an explanation for what he is doing. He mistakes her for a man, and she takes off her knight's helmet, revealing her face. Blake then explains that he is assessing the crime scene, and believes Vicky was murdered. Cherry explains that she just wants to go home and is only there because her boyfriend, Brick, who only speaks in grunts, is a stage hand. Gwen Stayfer, a member of the play's crew, doubts Blake's abilities and remarks that he never checked Vicky's pulse. Blake approaches Vicky for a more thorough inspection but is interrupted by William walking onstage, dropping his clipboard and startling everyone. He runs to the body and begins crying. Blake tries to calm him, but his sadness instantly turns to rage as he shakes Vicky's body, screaming that her death ruined his show. William's anger rises and Blake orders two crew members to detain him. They pin William down to the ground and drag him offstage. A few of the crew members leave, taking Vicky's body away with them.

Pamilla Monica, the play's assistant director, apologizes for William's behaviour, then Sebastian remarks that no one knows who Blake is. Blake introduces himself as the captain of the school's criminal investigations club, presenting a poorly-made plastic badge. He explains that he is the only qualified person in the room to solve Vicky's murder, and that everyone else is a suspect. He promises to solve the case, but the cast and crew aren't buying it. Umhuh Perry, a narrator for the play who is completely unprepared and relying solely on his script, is confused by Blake's appearance and asks if they are going "off-book". Theodore takes this as a cue to begin playing improv games, leaving Blake in disbelief toward the two actors who believe the production is still ongoing. Blake tries a few different strategies to find the murderer and looks for any clues, but is unsuccessful. He asks who is in charge, and Pamilla attempts to explain but is interrupted by William storming back onstage, being held back by crew members. Brick knocks him out with a single punch, and he is dragged back off. Pamilla then introduces herself as the assistant director, revealing that she was extremely prepared for this exact situation due to William making her memorize an assistant director's handbook prior to the show. Blake is suspicious of her calm and cold nature, but changes his mind after she offers to share any notes she was taking during the performance at the time of the murder, as well as background information on the suspects. Blake then orders everyone to line up, and tells them that he will be conducting interrogations, but he will give the murderer one last chance to come forward. Sebastian nervously raises his hand, but then reveals he simply has to use the washroom. Blake reluctantly dismisses him and the rest of the suspects after they reveal they all need to go to the washroom. Being left alone, he monologues into his tape recorder, reiterating that he plans to solve the case. He is startled by a lurking Pamilla asking if he would like to start the interrogations, and handing him a thorough stack of notes and files. They both leave to begins interrogations.

Blake first interrogates Gwen, who claims to not have any helpful information and questions why they can't call the police. Meanwhile, Pamilla lurks behind them, taking notes. Blake interrupts Gwen by asking her why she "did it", immediately assuming she is the murderer. Gwen pushes back, insisting that she didn't kill Vicky, but Blake only continues to accuse her, pushing her to a point of rage. Gwen decides to call the police anyways, but her call fails and Blake reveals he is using a signal jammer to block all cell service in the theatre. Gwen storms out of the room and Blake blames her moodiness on her adolescence. Meanwhile, the remainder of the cast and crew wait backstage. Cherry complains about being stuck in the theatre before Gwen storms in, still furious after her interrogation. She tries to leave the theatre, but the door is locked. Blake enters, and the room begins to turn on him due to his locking the doors and use of the signal jammer. Blake tells them his measures are necessary to find the killer before calling William in as his next suspect, who is curled in the fetal position in a corner of the room. Pamilla tries unsuccessfully to get him up, before enlisting the help of Brick to carry him into the room.

Blake and William sit in the interrogation room, with William face-down on the desk. Blake remarks that due to the events of the night, William likely won't receive his "big break" from his play. These comments cause William to begin sobbing uncontrollably over his failed production. After a few unsuccessful attempts to calm him down, Blake gets Pamilla to bring them both coffee. William asks for his "usual". William then reveals to Blake that he has always wanted to be a director, and that Pamilla has been his assistant ever since his first production. Blake ignores William's comments and begins monologuing about his suspected motive for William to murder Vicky. As he finishes his speech, Pamilla re-enters the room with the coffee and points out that William has fallen asleep. She then explains to Blake that she believes that William is the least likely suspect due to his lack of motive for ruining his own production, and his care for Vicky. Blake takes her testimony into account but won't let William go on a hunch. Pamilla then wakes up William using the scent of his coffee. He springs up in a panic before leaving with his mug. Backstage, Cherry, tired of Blake's antics, tells the cast and crew that she believes Gwen is the murderer, and that she will solve things "girl-to-girl". Blake enters with Pamilla, asking what is in William's coffee. Pamilla tells him she does not know, then William enters, now overly energetic and hyper. Blake calls in Sebastian as his next suspect, and he, Pamilla and Sebastian exit.

During Blake and Sebastian's interrogation, Sebastian reveals he was not present at the time of the murder due to fleeing to the washroom immediately after exiting the stage, but he did notice a trace amount of blood in Vicky's hair, leading him to believe her cause of death was blunt-force trauma. Blake uses this new information to accuse Sebastian of using his extensive science skills to commit the murder and get away with it, which Sebastian denies. Instead, he offers to help Blake's investigation by conducting a blood test on Vicky's body to prove he did not poison her, as he is incapable of a blunt-force murder due to his size and strength. Blake agrees to the plan, and allows Sebastian to leave the theatre under Pamilla's supervision. Meanwhile, Gwen re-enters the backstage after calming down. Cherry confronts her about being the murderer, and the two begin to hurl insults at each other, with Gwen telling Cherry it doesn't feel good to constantly have fingers pointed at her. She also reveals that Cherry has been held back from graduation for two years. The fight nearly escalates to a physical level before the two are interrupted by Pamilla, who calls Cherry into the interrogation room. Cherry reluctantly leaves after threatening Gwen, then Pamilla tries unsuccessfully to console Gwen, telling her she knows she didn't kill Vicky.

During Cherry's interrogation, Cherry hurls insults at Blake in an attempt to get him to back off, who responds by laying into Cherry himself, pointing out that insulting each other won't get them anywhere. He tries to get info about the murder from her, but only finds out that her and Brick were alone backstage at the time. Cherry tells Blake that he shouldn't go around insulting people. Blake points out the irony in her statement before allowing her to leave. When she returns to the backstage, she is quickly screamed at by William, who accuses her of Vicky's murder, grabbing and shaking her before being pulled back by Brick and kicked in the groin by Cherry. Hearing the commotion, Blake and Pamilla enter, and William begins a crazed rant, explaining what he believes happened in relation to Vicky's murder. He yells that Cherry killed Vicky out of vengeance for losing the lead role in "A Hallowed Well" to her, so that he would break down and be made out to be crazy by Blake, who he claims purposely wasted everyone's time with his interrogations. When Cherry points out that killing Vicky would be a strange way to seek revenge, William switches gears and instead claims that Cherry was just a pawn in a greater plan, and that the true orchestrator of the night's events was Pamilla, his assistant. He explains that Pamilla wanted to keep the blood off her own hands and her motive was to take William out and become the director herself. William's betrayal of her causes Pamilla to punch William in the jaw, knocking him out cold. She apologizes for losing her temper, and Blake suggests they all take a break before resuming the interrogations, ending the act.

### Act 2

The second act begins with an interrogation of Arthur Oblong, who reveals that he may have caused the blackout in the theatre by tampering with the power fuses backstage in order to purposely shock himself due to his masochistic nature. However, Arthur does claim that he would never kill Vicky as she was one of the only students at the school who was nice to him. Pamilla is noticeably uncomfortable during the interrogation due to the previous incident with William, and Blake tells her to leave and take some time for herself. Meanwhile, in a storage closet beside the theatre, William sits tied to a high chair, unconscious. Gwen enters, waking him up. He claims he can't remember anything that happened after being interrogated. Gwen informs him of his rant, and he tries to defend himself, wallowing in his own self-pity. Gwen tells him he needs to swallow his pride and apologize to Pamilla for his actions. William agrees, and asks Gwen to get him a coffee, claiming he makes his own blend. She asks him what's in it, and he lists off several concerning ingredients including energy drinks and muscle relaxants. Gwen tells him that the coffee must have had some effect on his health, and they realize that the coffee may have been to blame for his actions. Overhearing their screaming, Blake storms in and kicks Gwen out. William tells Blake about the coffee and Blake calls in Sebastian to have it analyzed to confirm William's story. Blake then leaves to interrogate Theodore, who, instead of giving any useful information, gets Blake to participate in a 'yes and'-style improv game with him, launching into a monologue showing just how far gone he is, and that he is in denial of Vicky's death. Sobered by Theodore's actions, Blake dismisses Pamilla's help and sits alone to collect himself.

The next scene opens on a science lab in the school, with Sebastian and two other students working at a desk. Vicky's body lays on the ground in front of them. Blake enters to check up on them, and they confirm that William was telling the truth about the ingredients in his coffee. Blake remarks that he still thinks William is crazy, and becomes upset when Sebastian defends his actions due to the stress of the production. Pamilla enters to call Blake into the next interrogation, leaving Sebastian questioning Blake's motives.

In the storage closet, William sits alone, still tied up, before Pamilla enters to collect some papers. He tries to talk to her, but she ignores him. He finally gets her attention by saying he wants to sincerely apologize. She asks if he really meant the things he said, to which he responds by blaming the coffee. The two discuss the situation and William reveals that he only tried to push Pamilla away because he believed he didn't deserve someone as caring and intelligent as her for an assistant director. Pamilla, in turn, tells William she enjoys her work and cares deeply for him. The two make up and Pamilla unties William, and the scene ends as they share a hug. Blake then interrogates Umhuh, getting increasingly frustrated as Umhuh still believes they are in a play and keeps blurting out random dialogue from his script. Having had enough, Blake gives up and forces Umhuh to leave, before being informed by Pamilla that William is ready to speak to him.

Blake, William and Pamilla meet in the storage closet to begin a second interrogation of William. He once again blames the coffee for his actions, but Blake is still suspicious of him and asks him to recount the events of the night from his perspective. He does, and reveals that he was manipulating the circuit breaker backstage during the show as he confused it for the lighting level switches. Pamilla and Blake both realize that he was the one who caused the blackout, and William claims it was an accident but Blake becomes hostile toward both him and Pamilla, becoming even more suspicious of them. Pamilla asks Blake to collect himself and then interrogate her as she is the final suspect. Meanwhile, backstage, Cherry apologizes to Gwen for lashing out at her before. She explains that she is only mean to others as a defence mechanism due to the constant comments from others about her age, and because she has anxiety about not having her life figured out yet. Gwen apologizes as well for her agression. Blake then interrogates Pamilla and has her recount the events of the night, confirming his hunch that she did not kill Vicky. Stumped, Blake decides to have Pamilla get him the school's files on the cast and crew to dig through their background information.

Backstage, the cast and crew sit around before Blake storms in with Pamilla and orders them to form a line. He claims he's finally solved the murder and accuses Gwen once again. Baffled, Gwen demands an explanation, and Blake accuses her of being a Satanist, having killed Vicky as a sacrifice for the Devil. As evidence, he points out a 'pentagram necklace' that Gwen is wearing, ripping it off her neck and displaying it for the others to see. However, Gwen corrects him, informing him that it is actually a Star of David necklace and that she is Jewish. The rest of the cast and crew come to Gwen's defence, leaving Blake confused after being proven wrong. He walks himself through the events of the night, trying to explain his conclusion, but eventually admitting that he accused Gwen as a simple guess, turning everyone against him. Gwen suggests Brick as the murderer, as he hasn't said anything short of a grunt the entire night. Brick steps forward and delivers an emotional monologue, finally speaking and affirming the fact that he did not kill Vicky, and that his "only crime was being in love", explaining his hopes and dreams of sharing a stage with Cherry. The group then realizes Pamilla is the only one left unaccounted for, and she tells them her version of the night's events, before being interrupted by Blake, who realizes the murder was an accident. He asks Pamilla where Sebastian is, then storms off to find him at the science lab.

The cast and crew arrive at the science lab, where Blake asks Sebastian about the results of the blood test. He tells them that Vicky's blood contained chemicals only found in coffee, energy drinks and muscle relaxants. Another one of the scientists confirms that Vicky's blood matches up with the contents of William's coffee thermos. The cast and crew realize that Vicky drank William's coffee, putting her on edge, and the theatre blackout caused her to have a heart attack and hit her head on the floor, killing her. William begins to break down upon realizing he killed Vicky, but the others reassure him that it wasn't his fault. Blake is upset that his first case didn't go as planned, but Gwen tells him that he needs to stop making everything about himself, and that everyone needs to realize that they aren't a professional in their field and it's okay to make mistakes and stumble. The group all agree that they've learned their own valuable lessons that night, such as Cherry's resolution with Gwen and William's with Pam. Blake finally turns off his signal jammer, allowing Gwen to call the police as the others leave. Pamilla tells William that the events of the night would make for a good play, and the two set off together. Cherry invites Gwen to a jazz café where her and Brick were planning to spend the rest of the night. Finally, Theodore and Blake are left alone in the room, with Theodore staring at Vicky's body. He tells Blake that he's known Vicky was dead the entire team but didn't want to believe it. Blake consoles him as he explains that he will go on acting as it's what Vicky would have wanted. Theodore then reassures Blake that he is a good detective, and managed to solve the case, and that he will grow up to make his father proud. Theodore leaves Blake alone as he speaks into his tape recorder one last time, reflecting on the night and looking to the future, stating that this was the first case of many in his career. As Blake declares the case closed and walks off, Umhuh takes the stage, throwing his script away and delivering a monologue on the nature of art and life, stating they are one and the same. He ends by saying "Life will take you on a ride whether you like it or not, so whatever you do... nobody panic. He leaves, ending the play.

## Project Background

Traditionally, Abbey Park High School performs a school drama production every Fall. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were no productions in either 2020 or 2021. Linus Ma wanted to perform in a drama production before he graduated in June 2022, so in early March, he convinced the school's head of drama to allow students to put on their own production. He then recruited Oliver Beckwith, Jordan Dancyger and Marko Matov to aid in the production. The four students brainstormed ideas for plays before Oliver jokingly suggested that it would be funny if an actor was shot by a sniper rifle from the lighting/sound booth in the middle of the production. This dark joke, however, was then turned into the idea of a murder mystery taking place during a high school drama production.

After the idea for the play was developed, Linus approached Callum Armstrong about writing the play. The two brainstormed basic ideas for characters and plot before Callum got started on the script. It was then decided that the play would be two acts (at one point, performing two one-act plays was considered), with Callum serving as the lead writer and the rest of the team co-writing. It was also decided that Marko and Oliver would co-direct the play, with Jordan stage managing.

In early April 2022, the final script was completed and an info meeting was held to gauge interest in the production. Cast auditions took place from April 6th to 9th, with the final cast being decided on April 14th, and crew on April 17th. 20 students were cast (12 main actors and 8 ensemble), and 34 students were placed on the crew. Rehearsals began on April 21st, with the production finally being performed on June 1st and 3rd.

## Full Credits

### Executive Team

* **Callum Armstrong** - Lead writer
* **Oliver Beckwith** - Co-writer, co-director
* **Jordan Dancyger** - Co-writer, stage manager
* **Linus Ma** - Co-writer
* **Marko Matov** - Co-director
* **Mrs. Lucy McGhee** - Producer

### Cast

* **Callum Armstrong** - As Blake Backster
* **Linus Ma** - As William Trench
* **Hallie Green** - As Gwen Stayfer
* **Tommy Muhleisen** - As Pamilla Monica
* **Meera Sontam** - As Cherry Kiss
* **Sean Maguire** - As Brick
* **Sean Montgomery** - As Theodore S. Pian
* **Shreya Mailvaganam** - As Vicky Sweets
* **Charlotte Yuill** - As Sebastian Niall
* **Arius Ma** - As Arthur Oblong
* **Andie Davis** - As Umhuh Perry
* **Tatum Armstrong** - As Sage Manjeer

**Ensemble:** Ariana Abudaqa, Aries Yang, Aspen Slater, Cate Cawthray, Emily Wallace, Katie Archer, Pariza Mahajan

### Crew

* **Assistant Stage Managers** - Jailen Modi, Monica Rafael
* **Props Master** - Parks Cawthray
* **Costume Design** - Stephanie Muntean
* **Lighting Design** - Jordan Dancyger
* **Sound Design** - Jailen Modi
* **Lighting Operator** - Tyler Hughes
* **Sound Operator** - Santiago Sanz
* **Follow Spotlight Operator** - Emma Cockton
* **Tech Supervisor** - Samin Chowdhury
* **Props Crew** - Mo Mcgarry, Pierce Arani, Franco Di Natale
* **Costume Crew** - Holly Birch, Kissa Kazmi, Andie Davis, Alex McGarry
* **Set Design** - Eden Boguslavsky, Minji Kim, Daniel Zhang, Zainab Haroon, Lillia Badr, Owen Greco, Emily Wallace
* **Stagehands** - Parks Cawthray, Minji Kim
* **Publicity Crew** - Cate Cawthray, Kissa Kazmi, Tatum Armstrong, Tommy Muhleisen, Eden Boguslavsky

### Special Acknowledgment

* **Tyler Bruce** - Produced original score
* **Nicholas Ma** - Produced original score
* **Mr. David Willms & The Abbey Park Strings Ensemble** - Recorded original score
* **Catarina Fulham**
* **Mr. Paul Visca**
* **Mr. Jarrod Haddock**
* **Burloak Theatre Group**

## Trivia

* *Nobody Panic!* was the first 'Oliver B. Production' to receive media coverage. An image of the play was featured in the Oakville Beaver, a TV segment about the play was aired on YourTV Halton, and a full article about the play was written for Oakville News.
* On June 4th, 2022, the original score for the play was released on music streaming services.
	+ One of the pieces from the play, "DirecTango", was recorded live by the strings ensemble at Abbey Park High School.
* While the ending of the play presents a narrative that Vicky's murder was an accident, it is never revealed how or why she drank William's 'special coffee', leaving room for potential audience interpretation/theorizing as to whether she was, in fact, murdered.
* The original version of the play's script was 30 pages longer, before being cut to fit a reasonable time. The *Nobody Panic!* extended cut remains unreleased to this day.
	+ Known cut content includes an interrogation scene with Brick, and a vastly extended version of "A Hallowed Well".