BonnerSprings.com

Another murder may or may not be solved at Bonner Springs High School when 10 students portray characters in “Murder in Bloom,” a murder mystery involving a secret society and two detectives trying to find out who is responsible for the death of one of its members.

“It’s kind of a whodunit kind of format,” said director Dan Streit of the play. “Could it be (the society’s) own members or could it be the detectives? No one knows. Could it be the maid? It’s kind of our version of Clue.”

The society in question is named Daughters of the Earth, a society of women that meets for the purposes of discussing issues they face each day. Playing Melody Haydock, one of the society’s members, is junior Samee Sprenkle, who is returning for the third time to the BSHS theatrical stage. Sprenkle’s feelings as opening night approaches are a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Being one of a cast full of teenagers, she says it’s easy to get distracted.

“I’m actually really excited because I’m a main role this year, and that’s exciting,” Sprenkle said following last Friday’s after-school rehearsal. “But I think that we need to, like, focus more, because we are really sidetracked all the time. We’re too busy texting and eating and just playing around making jokes and stuff.”

Still, Sprenkle says this problem is nothing new and, as usual, she expects the cast to pull it together by opening night.

During the course of the play, one of the Daughters of the Earth is poisoned, and it is up to two detectives to find out who was the culprit of the grisly murder.

Playing the overly ambitious newbie detective Hugh Travis is senior Xavier Capalla, who has performed in several plays at BSHS.

“As for my character, I feel kind of awkward. Memorization has been kind of a problem for me and staying in focus,” Capalla said of some challenges he is facing in his approach to “Murder.”

Despite his actors’ worries, Streit says he is confident in their abilities. The month-long rehearsal schedule, he said, has been just short enough to pressure them into giving the play the good performances it deserves. He expects opening night to go just as well as it always does.

“We’ll have a few errors here and there just to get the jitters out,” he said, “but I’ve never had in my 10 years here a bad opening night.”

While a little distracted, Sprenkle says she is equally confident in her own abilities as an actress. She views her high school performances as a jumping off point to a later pursuit as a professional performer.

“I’m kind of a natural at acting, so I don’t really have to try very hard I guess,” Sprenkle said. “I love acting. It’s a really big passion of mine.”

Sprenkle’s sister Sidni Sprenkle, a sophomore who is new to the BSHS stage and will be playing the part of society member Stephanie Dearborn, is just as passionate about acting. Having taken part in theater camps, just like her sister, she says she knows exactly how she and the rest of the cast should approach “Murder in Bloom.”

“Acting’s like a rush,” Sidni Sprenkle said. “You have to remember all your lines, and if someone messes up, you have to catch up and move on. And if you don’t make it look like a mistake, the audience won’t recognize it as a mistake. And we’re all working together as a team to make it good. If one thing falls, it falls down on all of us.”

“Murder in Bloom” opens at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5, in the BSHS auditorium. A second showing will be 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6. Tickets are $2 for adults and $1 for students. Children ages 6 and under get in for free.