Story by Gini Davis

Nick Noir is a bumbling private detective who is being forced to fire his devoted secretary, Selma, and close his office after botching one case too many. But things may be looking up when Noir is contacted by Coco Purvis, co-owner with her twin sister Bonbon of the Precious Perks Coffee Shoppe.

The sisters have seen business fall off since the untimely death of one of their customers, Vinnie the Leech, who keeled over while drinking the duo's scrumptious but possibly deadly specialty-of-the-house, Death by Chocolate.

Eager to redeem his reputation by solving the mystery, Noir (aided at opportune moments by the doting Selma) swings into action, visiting the coffee shop and interrogating employees and customers.

Thus begins the Creswell High School drama production, Death by Chocolate, a two-act play by Craig Sodaro.

Josh Coon, portraying Nick Noir, headed a 10-member cast that included Samantha Cook as Selma, Jennifer Fincher-Beard as Bonbon Purvis and Amanda Slocum as Coco Purvis.

The cast of characters also included Brianna Dunn as Bobbie Sue, the waitress, who is also a talentless aspiring country singer; Tony Guadron as the curiously youthful-looking old man Henry Higgins Hickenbottom; and Corey Yula as the Frenchman, Francois Lepew.

Rounding out the cast were Jackie Glickert as Georgia Gore, a frumpy woman who turns out to be a restaurant critic and who becomes the second unfortunate victim of the Death by Chocolate drink; Maria Gonzalez as the mysterious, black-clad Yolanda Lamb; and Marbella Gonzalez as the perky twenty-something, Juniper Berry.

Allie Hurst served as student assistant director of the production, which was directed by CHS English teacher and drama club advisor, Laura Kingsbury.

"This is our first play of the year and we've been working really hard," said Hurst as she welcomed the audience for Death by Chocolate's opening night performance on Jan. 20.

A matinee performance was also held on Jan. 24.

Once he arrives at Precious Perks, Noir is confronted by a collection of oddball characters, including the tone-deaf waitress, Bobbie Sue; the people-watching old man; the newspaper-reading Frenchman; the mysterious woman in black; and of course, the sisters themselves, the cautious, bitter Bonbon and the bubbly, outgoing Coco.

Of course, everyone's a suspect—all the more so once the restaurant critic succumbs after ordering the shop's signature drink and Bobbie Sue disappears.

With Selma posing as a psychic, subtly feeding him information and steering him down the right path, Noir interrogates everyone present, seeing motive and opportunity for the murders everywhere he looks.

Using her trusty BlackBerry, Selma uncovers some deep secrets that help Noir blunder through some false deductions to unravel the mystery, which involves mistaken identity and a great deal of money left to the sisters by an uncle they never knew.

Flush with success after solving the case, Noir muses that he just might have to "give Selma a ring" sometime soon, "and not on the phone."

Operating as an extracurricular club instead of as an elective class for the past two years, the CHS drama club includes 22 to 30 students, depending on the project, Kingsbury reported.

Twice a year, those students face the challenge of working around other afterschool commitments such as jobs, sports and other activities to rehearse, gather props and design sets.

The Death by Chocolate cast, along with stage crew members Katherine Miller, Matt Billings, Rudy Grossnicklaus, Tylr Dorchak, Samantha Parker, Briana Rodriguez, Danielle Monett and Jena Williams, "have been working hard after school since October to put on the play," Kingsbury noted.

"In all, the cast did a good job working together to put the play on and working around all the problems that we inevitably encounter as an afterschool group," Kingsbury added.

"I am proud of the students for their commitment, even coming in on a Saturday to paint, and often staying after school for up to two hours a day," Kingsbury said.

With their first production of the year now behind them, drama club members will soon begin the planning process for another production to be held in the spring.