In the best murder mysteries, the killer’s identity is a surprise to everyone in the audience. In this fall’s play at Milford High School, it’ll be a surprise to the actors, too.

During the intermission of “Murder’s in the Heir,” the MHS Drama Club’s upcoming play, the audience will get to vote for which of the nine suspects they think did it. When the votes are tallied, whoever got the most votes will be revealed as the murderer in the final act.

“It’s something new for us, and something that the kids seem to be really getting into,” said MHS teacher Carissa Meiklejohn, who is directing the play. “It definitely keeps the kids on their toes.”

The script, by Billy St. John, contains nine different versions of the third act, one for each potential murderer. Since the act is about 20 minutes long, that adds up to about 180 minutes – three hours – of third acts to prepare for. The rest of the play only takes about 95 minutes.

“It’s a lot of work,” Meiklejohn said. “We’ve gone through entire rehearsals where we’ll just run through that third act over and over.”

Most of the ending will be the same no matter who the murderer is, but every actor has to be ready to step into the killer’s role at a moment’s notice.

“There are different mannerisms that the killer always has – the kids will find out who the murderer is right at the end of intermission, and that actor will have to remember to do all those different mannerisms as the murderer,” Meiklejohn said.

She said she was inspired to choose the play by one of her favorite movies, the 1980s mystery spoof “Clue,” which has three different endings, each with a different murderer.

The twist has brought new student actors into the production.

“A lot of the kids do musicals every year, but we’ve had some of those come out for the fall play for the first time,” she said. 

The cast includes Skip Schurman, Becky Ball, Levi Dodge, Robert Chamberlain, Andrea Clendaniel, Herman Cohee, Lacy Devoe, Jessica Donofrio, Colleen Farrell, Toni Gynac, Tara Hooven, Michelle Kramlich, Rose McFassel, Jessica Lear and Bethany Lennox.

Schurman has another first for the fall production, as he will play two roles – billionaire Simon Starkweather and his grandson, Simon Starkweather III.

Performances of “Murder’s in the Heir” are set for 7 p.m. every night from Thursday, Nov. 13 to Saturday, Nov. 15, with a 1 p.m. matinee on Nov. 15. Tickets cost $5 for students and $7 for adults.