Thriller Comes to the Possum Point Players' Stage January 31 through February 9, 2014

Possum Point Players brings the thriller Laura to their Possum Hall stage beginning Friday, January 31, 2014. Vera Caspary, Laura's novelist, playwright and screenwriter, wrote thrillers -- but not like any other author of her time, male or female. Her specialty was a specific type that she pioneered - the psycho thriller. Typically, thrillers focus on plot development as opposed to character development. They focus on an action arc as opposed to a psychological arc. But a successful psychological thriller does both, more or less equally. The suspense comes from the human interaction between characters who prey on each other's thoughts, trying either to confuse, destroy, or deceive.

Laura is a superb example of a perfect melding of all those elements. This haunting story, whose Working Title was "Ring Twice for Laura," is about a dead woman. Laura Hunt started as a daring and ambitious secretary at an advertising agency and worked her way up to become a top executive (Caspary had a similar background). Laura 's inability to balance her professional and private lives results in her murder.

If a mystery is a who-dunit, this thriller is a how-dunit. And Laura satisfies both definitions. Who killed her is certainly a mystery that needs to be solved. A jealous suitor, perhaps? As the facts unfold the audience is not only startled, they are gripped in non-stop suspense.

John Marino of Lewes directs the stage version of Laura with an ensemble cast, which includes Matt King of Lewes as Mark McPherson; Stephanie Allman of Lewes as Bessie Clary; Danny Keenan of Georgetown as Danny; Jim Killion of Lewes as Waldo Lydecker; Don Megee of Georgetown as Shelby Carpenter; Chris Polo of Dover as Mrs. Dorgan; Chuck Rafferty of Laurel as Olsen, and Kim Klabe of Rehoboth Beach as a young woman.

Show dates are 7:30 PM Fridays, January 31 and February 7, and Saturdays, February 1 and 8, and 2 PM Sundays, February 2 and 9, at Possum Hall, 441 Old Laurel Rd, Georgetown, DE 19947. Tickets are $18 for adults, $17 for students and seniors. Call (302) 856-4560 or visit www.possumpointplayers.org.

Possum Point Players is supported, in part, by grants from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

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