MURDER VILLAGE Returns to MICF for 10th Anniversary Season
After a decade of delighting audiences across the country, the wildly inventive MURDER VILLAGE: AN IMPROVISED WHODUNNIT returns to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival this year for a special anniversary season. The acclaimed improvised comedy will run from 26 March to 19 April 2026 at the Arts Centre Melbourne Member’s Lounge, inviting audiences once again to help solve a murder that has never been written before.
Now celebrating ten years on the road, the production has amassed nearly 250 performances and built a devoted following through sold out seasons in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane. The show’s clever premise combines classic British murder mystery tropes with the unpredictability of live improvisation, ensuring that every performance unfolds as a completely original whodunnit.
Inspired by the golden age of crime fiction, audiences are transported to a quintessentially eccentric English village where suspicious locals, red herrings and puzzling clues abound. When a murder inevitably occurs, the audience becomes part of the investigation, secretly voting to determine the victim, the culprit and key elements of the mystery.
Director David Massingham, who also performs as the hapless Detective Inspector Owen Gullet, explains that while the show is packed with laughs, the mystery itself is taken seriously.
Who will die, who did it, and how the sleuth will solve it are all exciting questions we improvise answers for, he says.
Because the audience suggestions are collected through a blind ballot, even the spectators who shape the story must try to solve the mystery alongside the performers.
The production features a rotating ensemble of some of Australia’s most experienced improvisers, including Jason Geary (THANK GOD YOU’RE HERE), Lliam Amor (THE TWELVE), Rhys Auteri (LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL) and Amanda Buckley (THE PROJECT). Together they conjure a world of eccentric suspects, amateur sleuths and unpredictable twists.
Drawing inspiration from classic detective icons such as Agatha Christie, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Sherlock Holmes, Columbo, and even the board game Cluedo, Murder Village offers a loving parody of the genre while still delivering a satisfying mystery.
Following a popular run at the 2025 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the production returns to the Arts Centre’s Member’s Lounge for another round of intrigue, chaos and audience controlled storytelling.
For fans of crime fiction, improvisation and quick witted comedy, MURDER VILLAGE: AN IMPROVISED WHODUNNIT promises a murder mystery where the only certainty is that no two performances will ever be the same.
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