It's not a whodunit. It's a whodidntit.
Christmas at the MacTavish home in rural Scotland: a time for celebration, passive aggression, and killing off the black sheep of the family. You’d think a sibling’s demise might cast a pall over a holiday get-together. But when Dougie MacTavish turns up dead, there's little time to grieve, and not just because they all hated him. Everyone’s a suspect because everyone thinks they killed him.
On the case is a newly-promoted detective inspector who must contend with duplicitous family members, disappearing evidence, a body that won’t stay put, and an apparent murder by drowning. Or gunshot. Or fire. Or bludgeoning. Or perhaps all of the above?
Keywords: mystery, dark comedy, comedy, funny, Scotland, whodunit, murder mystery, comic, large cast
Genre: Mystery, Dark Comedy
Acts: 2
Run time: 90 minutes
Content note: DOUGIE'S LAST CHRISTMAS includes adult themes, swearing, xenophobic slurs, mention of suicide, mild same-sex intimacy, and threatening behavior. The play is written for an audience thirteen and older.
Cast size: 13 actors
Male roles: 6
Female roles: 7
Casting Breakdown:
DOUGIE MacTAVISH, 47; brother of MEREDITH, CHARLES, and DEIRDRE; murderee
ISOBEL “GRAN IZZY” BICKLE, 94; mother-in-law to MEREDITH
AINSLIE BICKLE, 20; university student, daughter of MEREDITH
JOSH PERETTI, 21; university student, American
CHARLES MacTAVISH, 45; brother of DOUGIE
NIGELLA MacTAVISH, 42; wife of CHARLES
SHONA MacTAVISH, 22; daughter of CHARLES and NIGELLA, twin of KIERAN
KIERAN MacTAVISH, 22; son of CHARLES and NIGELLA, twin of SHONA
DEIRDRE MacTAVISH, 38; sister of DOUGIE
MAN ON FLOOR OF PUB (minor character, one line)
MEREDITH BICKLE, 48; sister of DOUGIE, daughter-in-law of GRAN IZZY
NORAH KINNEARLY, 31; recently-promoted detective inspector
HAMISH MacDOUGALL, 18; coroner intern