The Game's Afoot
By Ken Ludwig
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Department of Theatre acknowledges the land we are on in Tennessee is the original homeland of the Cherokee, Yuchi, Shawnee, and Chickasaw tribal nations. We honor these indigenous people, their heritage, culture, and legacy.
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
The Game’s Afoot at its core, is about joy. Now more than ever, it’s important to stop and laugh at the absurdity of humans. It’s important to laugh with each other rather than at each other. I want the audience to take a break from their responsibilities, and be transported into a kooky, murderous mansion, with boisterous characters. I want the audience to be too busy trying to solve the mystery that they forget what’s stressing them out. This play doesn’t take itself too seriously, and has taught me that I shouldn't either. I wanted to create a loud, bold, show with large physicality in the small constraints of a blackbox theatre.
My fascination with comedy spills over into everything I make. While I love making audiences laugh, my ideal audience is my mom. Whenever I make her laugh, I feel like the funniest woman alive. Even though I always argue that I’m the funniest in the family, we all know it’s her. Coming from a family of funny women, including my two little sisters, my choice of a comedy just made sense.
The Game’s Afoot is a self-aware story: light heartedly making fun of theatre people and how they react in precarious situations. The idea of an actor who plays a detective onstage, but hilariously falls apart when having to experience an actual murder, intrigued me.
Special thanks to Professor Baker and Professor Shelton for being my mentors throughout this process. They instilled their wisdom into me. I now confidently say: I AM A DIRECTOR!
This play is dedicated to anyone who wants to pursue a career in theatre. Remember, don’t take life too seriously! But, if you’re pursuing a career in theatre I’m guessing you already knew that.
Claire Pals, Director (graduating ‘26)
CAST
Gillette: Tiger Dulaney
Martha: Nylah Watts
Simon: Battle Loyd
Aggie: Knoelle Antley
Felix: Micah Duncan
Madge: Katarina Kell
Daria: Sophia Hassevoort
Goring: Maegan Kirkland
Radio Broadcast Voice: Mike Nawrocki
Portia Voice: Puck the dog
Understudies
Martha u/s: Heidi Thomas
Aggie u/s: Kaelyn Rozgony
Madge u/s: Emma Spillman
Daria u/s: Madison Hickey
Goring u/s: Luna Range
PRODUCTION TEAM
Producer: Beki Baker
Director: Claire Pals*
Production Manager: Andy Bleiler
Scenic Designer: Phoebe Countryman*
Costume Designer: Ella Haganman*
Lighting Designer: Justin Littrell*
Sound Designer: Claire Pals*
Technical Director: Hendrick Shelton
Stage Manager: Hayley-Kate Nelms*
Assistant Stage Manager: Sara Kovich*
Fight Choreographer: Megan Ammons*
Dramaturg: Erin Crandall*
Dialect Coach: Nat McIntyre
Dance Choreographer: Sophia Hassevoort*
*denotes student
STUDENT RUN CREW
Stage Crew: Dawson Wise, Bowen Sellers, Gunnar Cowden
Wardrobe: Mackenzie Gregory, Haden Lindsay
Light Board Operator: Justin Littrell
Sound Board Operator: Callie Jean Tysdal
STUDENT PRODUCTION CREW
Set Crew: Megan Ammons, Sarah Blair, Bryona Browner, Makenzie Cogswell, Kyra Crosby, Isabella DeCesare, Alyssa Freeze, Kenses Garabito, Mackenzie Gregory, Bryson Hewell, Abigail Hill, Haven Hutchison, Anna Jones, Kaden Kinney, Sara Kovich, Berkley Landreth, Genesis Lindsey, Battle Loyd, Ella Martinez, Ranger McElhattan, Baleigh Mckeehan, Hayley-Kate Nelms, Claire Pals, Bowen Sellers, Hayden Swaim, Briley Walker, Nylah Watts, Jude Williams, Riley Wing, Dawson Wise, Lily Wozniak
Lighting Crew: Nylah Watts, Justin Littrell, Claire Pals, Haley-Kate Nelms, Sarah Kovich, Phoebe Countryman
LICENSING RIGHTS
Ken Ludwig’s The Games Afoot is specially licensed through Concord Theatricals.
SPECIAL THANKS
Mr. Owl, Madison Cavin, Brooklyn Gentry, Sofia Hernandez-Morales
SUSTAINABILITY STATEMENT
Lipscomb University Theatre is the only university in Tennessee that is recognized as an educational theatre member of the Broadway Green Alliance. We have both faculty and students who serve as “Green Captains”, helping our department stay aware of ways we can reduce our carbon footprint, consumption of energy, and the amount of waste we produce.
The scenery and costuming for this production have been created using at least 90% recycled/reclaimed, sustainably sourced, and reduced emission products. The vast majority of the scenery and costuming will be reused in future productions, greatly reducing the need for new virgin materials on those shows.