THE GROVE : A GOTHIC MURDER MYSTERY

During an overnight history camp at their school, The Grove, a group of students are left in the care of Mr Peggitt, an elderly former teacher with a long memory of its past. When he tells a ghost story of hidden passages and tunnels beneath the school — where students once ventured and never returned, and where spirits of the past are said to still linger — they are drawn in and cannot resist exploring.

But what begins as curiosity, soon becomes something far more unsettling when the students begin to experience haunting visions of a devastating 1874 Victorian railway disaster — and The Grove’s dark connection to it. As past and present begin to blur, they realise they must piece together the truth at the centre of a Gothic murder mystery… before it’s too late.

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The Grove is an ensemble driven play with 31 speaking roles, but can be shrunk down to a cast of 16 (running) 

PLAY DETAILS

• Cast size: 16 -30++ Roles (Flexible)

• Ensemble driven. Girl Heavy. Gender Flexible.

• Length: 40-50 Minutes

• Style: Gothic Drama, Mystery, Horror, Comedy. 

• Suitable for: Primary, Middle and High School, College, Youth Theatre

BACKGROUND OF THIS TRUE STORY  - This is a story that has been in my head for 40 years, so I have loved seeing it come to life. It was originally told to me when I was 12 years old and attended Highdown School (Formerly known as The Grove) by our teacher, Mr Peggitt, (now a character in The Grove. Everything that I have recounted in Peggitt's story is exactly how he told it to our class of ratty 1st form students, who until then, had never listened to a word he said.... But when he told us the story of hidden cellars, ghosts, visions and bodies buried under our school, we hung on every word!

I always doubted some of the logistics of Peggitt's story, which spoke about the found letter from a teacher who had gone missing, but in researching the history of Grove House Estate, I did discover that two of the original owners were indeed an architect who carried out extensive remodelling on the house, as well as the chairman of the Great Western Railway, which did suffer a suffer a devastating railway disaster at Shipton-on-Cherwell in 1874.

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Although it is a One Act, there are three distinct parts: Part 1. The School Camp. Part 2. The Ghost Story, and the main body of the play, Part 3. The Gothic Muder Mystery. 

STAGING NOTES: This play takes place in multiple settings. The Grove common room, A science lab, The cellar, A sitting room, The Oxford Train Station, A street in a town, an office. But the set can be very simple, using walls or flats with hidden doors, that can be the backdrop for every scene. A desk, chairs or a sofa can be quickly moved on and off when needed. Simple lighting and possibly projection plays a key role in creating much of the illusion.