About

Incorporated in 1993, Do or Die Mysteries produces comic, interactive murder mystery shows in the Baltimore and DC/Metro area.  Some shows are dinner shows.  Some shows are "show only."

Over 30 original shows have been produced to date.  Customization of scripts is available for private and corporate parties.

This is not your mama's theatre.  Do or Die shows are lively and truly interactive throughout the show.  

How our Murder Mystery Shows Work:

First and foremost, the shows are about generating laughter.  

At the outset, introductory scenes are performed.  These scenes are presentational and acquaint participants with the characters, who will eventually become “suspects”.  

After these introductory scenes, the actors then mingle with the audience, dropping bits of information and misinformation.  Each audience member has also been given a clue – a question to ask one of the characters or a unique piece of information about a character.  This acts as an ice breaker, making it easier for individuals to question characters.    Not every character will visit every table, but every table will be visited.  Once the “table talk” portion is concluded,  the show once again becomes presentational, culminating in the “murder”.  At the client’s request, we can have an intermission after the “murder”.

Next, the “police officer” arrives, and, with the help of the audience, compiles a list of suspect.  Sometimes audience members are implicated, but they are never put on the spot unless they are willing to participate. The audience is then given 3-4 minutes to question each suspect, with the “police officer” making sure the questioning stays on track.  After each suspect identified as been questioned, a vote is taken.  The ending is then performed, and participants can see how close they came to solving the murder.

If your group is focused on teambuilding, the investigation can be run by having each table become a team.  The intermission becomes a little longer, and, rather than each suspect being interrogated one by one, each table spends time during the intermission developing a list of suspects and questions they would like to ask.