Dean Fiala
These works are performance tested and stage ready. All of the plays have been produced at least once. Each murder mystery has sold out multiple performances.
The Plays of
Murder Mysteries
Comedic stories where audiences get to figure out "who done it" between the laughs. There are also opportunities for audience cameos.
"Thanks to playwright Dean Fiala, A Wedding To Die For is not your typical wedding-gone-bad show...It had each audience member thoroughly invested in the performance."
- DC Metro Theater Arts
A Room With a "Clue"
The local game club has won a weekend in a mansion and decides to roleplay a mystery based on Lizzie's favorite childhood board game. Peter is assigned Professor Plum, and like his character, is often lost in thought. Wendy is type cast as Mrs. White, the temperamental cook. Max plays Col. Mustard, the hard-charging and hard to understand Australian military man. Everyone hopes timid Susan can build up the nerve to play Miss Scarlett. Penny is a kindred crusader to the temperance champion, Mrs. Peacock. Gavin easily dons the wealth and position of Reverend Green. But as the game becomes all too real, the group realizes that they might have more than one murder to solve.
5 Female - 2 Male
Runtime 50-55 minutes
Premiered October 2016
5 Female - 2 Male
Runtime 50-55 minutes
Premiered February 2016
Madison missed out on her dream wedding when she eloped. Ten years later, she's determined to make everything perfect, and woe to anyone who gets in her way. Her sister and maid of honor, Ashley, flits between apathy and anger. Cliff, the best man, wallows in his own perpetual twilight. Pushed to the edge of bankruptcy, Brenda, the mother of the bride, is determined to salvage the day. Meanwhile Madeline, Brenda's best friend, envisions a Madison-free future. The perfect groom, Jake, smiles until he cries. A surly waitress and some inappropriate toasts (a few provided by select audience members) finish setting the stage for a Wedding to Die For.
A Wedding To Die For
Deadline
SteamedPunk! Ventures is due to drop their biggest app yet and energy billows through the office, but it’s not all positive. There’s a kink in the pipes and a few more among the staff. Fissures threaten to grow into cracks as the pressure builds. Suppressed jealousies and conflicts threaten to explode. Will the team be able to keep the airship afloat or will the boiler burst before they can safely land?
4 Female - 3 Male
Runtime 50-55 minutes
Premiered October 2019
4 Female - 3 Male
Runtime 50-55 minutes
Premiered March 2019
While on vacation, Detective Virginia Tibbs responds to sounds of a gunshot from the nearby estate, only to find the family patriarch dead and the family at a loss of what to do next. With the local sheriff indisposed, Virginia convinces the family the smartest course for finding the killer is to recall their actions and whereabouts leading up to the gunshot. Surrounded by a house full of suspects, all with suspect memories, Virginia must employ all of her wits and experience to flush out the killer before there’s another murder to remember.
I Remember Murder
Kill Again's Island
Kihiliikin Island is a small speck in the Hawaiian archipelago, occupied by an eclectic collection of souls. One day a wave deposits a lost surfer on the beach and washes away their daily routines. Soon the island’s tranquility is submerged and tempests brew in every heart. Will the island return to its fantasy or will paradise be lost – forever?
4 Female - 3 Male
Runtime 50-55 minutes
Premiered July 2022
4/5 Female - 2/1 Male
Runtime 50-55 minutes
Premiered December 2023
Because Noelle's boss, Victor, knows just one joke, she dreads the holidays. The other employees aren't laughing when Victor's assistant Heather enforces the mandatory ugly sweater policy at the holiday party. Lisa can't decide what she resents more, the sweater she's forced to wear, or the rumors Victor has spread about her. Jenna only wants to find a quiet place to work, while the office intern, Kelly, is torn between emulating Noelle and a budding infatuation with Jenna. The party comes to a surprising conclusion when Victor's lies, holiday jam, and a malfunctioning coffee machine meet in the break room.
The Last Noel
Murder by the Book
Mickey’s bookstore, Under Covers, is under the threat of collapse. He hopes a book signing by the author of “Roses are Dead and so are You” will bring customers to shore up the store and balance the books. But the author, Edgar, causes tremors of trouble. Who will be buried, and who will survive when there's a murder by the book?
4 Female - 3 Male
Runtime 50-55 minutes
Premiered October 2017
3 Female - 4 Male
Runtime 50-55 minutes
Premiered June 2023
One evening in 1955, the Metropolitan wends its way out of the city, carrying spies, secrets and schemes through the unsuspecting suburbs. Arriving at the station, surprised looks and polite questions quickly devolve into startling revelations, angry accusations, and drawn weapons. With the country’s atomic secrets at stake, no one is who they claim to be, and the only way to sort it out may be murder.
Murder on the Metropolitan
With a Deadly Finish
The Silvermans and Larchs are off on a grand wine tasting vacation. They start off the day at Benedictus Cellars, a respected winery, run by Natalie Benedict with her twin daughters, Kate and Bianca. Between the tastings and tours however, trouble is fermenting. Gail suspects her husband Joshua of squeezing another woman's grapes and confesses to Leslie that she's taken action to discover the truth. Leslie wonders if Gail will be able to crack the case. The arrival of an annoying wine "expert" brings the prospect of romance to Kate or Bianca, but uncorks black memories for Natalie. The possibility that the intruder might spill some swill secrets puts everyone on edge and in danger. Only the most astute spectator will have the palate to discern how it will finish.
4 Female - 3 Male
Runtime 50-55 minutes
Premiered February 2017
Other Plays
Not every play is murderous. Dean was awarded "Up and Coming Playwright" for Negotiable Virtue by the Maryland Community Theatre Festival Association.
Negotiable Virtue
A cold January night in an airport bar. Two strangers meet. What do they have in common — nothing? Or more than they realize?
2 Female - 1 Male
Runtime 40 minutes
Premiered January 2022
One Click Away
Seems there are no limits to what you can buy (and return) on the internet.
2 Female - 3 Male
Runtime 20 minutes
Premiered August 2017
The Last Roll
Natasha and Chris have just seen off their son and his girlfriend after a visit. They are completing the move into their new “downsizing” townhouse when they learn of the shelter in place restrictions. Confident they have sufficient supplies, they rebuff their neighbor Roger’s offers to sell them toilet paper. The sudden return of Liam and Olivia for a stay of indeterminate length dents their confidence, but certain they have an unopened box filled with paper products they remain steadfast. However, the discovery that they are down to their last roll changes everything.
2 Female - 3 Male
Runtime 20 minutes
Premiered April 2020 (Zoom)
email: dean@deanfiala.com
