THE HOLLYWOOD MYSTERY an Interactive Drama Live Action Freeform Role Playing Scenario for 9 players (2 male and 7 female) written by Joy Pan, Green Lin and Colin Li Written as an assignment in English Conversation One, an English as a Foreign Language course taught for freshmen by Dr. Brian David Phillips in the Department of English at National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China, Fall Semester, 1998. Copyright 1998 by Joy Pan, Green Lin, and Colin Li. Introduction John Kameraon (45 years old, 175 cm), a famous director, was recognized as one of the most influential people in the world when he's just 28. However, since some of his films failed at box office and public comments in his early 30's, he has been frustrated for a period, but is still held in high esteem. Recently, John shows the whole world his latest movie, Good Wife Hunting, which breaks the highest record of box office and is praised as another masterpiece in his career. To celebrate the great success in this movie, you are invited to a celebration party in a big hotel held by Paramount Company. Some of you arrived at the hotel early in this morning to ward off unnecessary notice; others came here later. To everyone's surprise, in this evening, before the party begins, John Kameraon is found dead in his room --- his throat was cut open during his sleep. Now all of you are suspects and have to find out who the killer is. You MUST tell the truth unless you're the murderer. Be sure you take 2~3 in a group when talking. Don't tell people about your secrets until you are asked directly. Characters Victoria Kameraon - 45 years old, 173 cm, John's wife, beautiful and graceful. Stephen Richman - 43 years old, 181 cm, John and Victoria's old friend, the owner of this hotel. Sarah Stone - 39 years old, 178 cm, a famous actress, sexy and attractive, the best friend of Victoria Wendy Ryder - 26 years old, 165 cm, a quite well-known young actress, sweet and lovely, Michael's girlfriend. Carol Dennis - 26 years old, 170 cm, a famous actress, the competitor of Wendy; she has a very nice looking and potential. Michael Damon - 29 years old, 180 cm, a handsome, charming, and popular actor, Wendy's boyfriend; he received Academy Award in 1997 Anna Smith - 35 years old, 167 cm, a periodical reporter, Judy's aunt; she always wears trousers and is lame. Judy Smith - 15 years old, 160 cm, Anna's niece, Michael's fan. Jean Weird - 17 years old, 168 cm, a schoolmate and also a neighbor of Judy, crazy about Michael. [Steps] Introduce yourselves to each other. (15 minutes) Get your clues. (5 minutes) Share your clues with others. (20 minutes) Vote and find out who the murderer is. (10 minutes) Character Descriptions Victoria Kameraon Background: You are a daughter of an extremely rich producer. John, Stephen, and you have been good friends since you were high school classmates. Both of John and Stephen treated you very well, but you thought of John as your boyfriend. John married you after graduating form high school. John started to direct movies with your father's help. He was so enthusiastic and had such ambition for movie career that from time to time he's absorbed in movies rather than you. After he became a famous director, everything was getting worse. John was always not at home and ignored your feeling. You were not sure if John loved you or not, but you loved him very much. However, several years ago when John told you he loved another woman and wanted to divorce, you almost broke down. You didn't divorce because you couldn't live without John and you wanted him back. Besides, Sarah is your closest friend and always tries to persuade you to leave John. Secret: You always feel guilty because you had made the biggest mistake in you whole life. It was 15 years ago that John went abroad to direct his movie for one year. During this period, you felt very lonely, yearning someone to stay with you. Therefore, you called Stephen and he visited you and accompanied you every day. On a wonderful night, after dinner, both of you were drunk. Then you slept with Stephen. Unexpectedly, you're pregnant. You were too soft-hearted to do the abortion, so you gave birth to the baby, hoping John's forgiveness. However, John exploded with rage, questioning you insistently who the baby's father is though you didn't tell him from beginning to end. After all, John couldn't accept this baby, and sent her to another family, a family that you didn't know. Now the daughter of you and Stephen, is adopted by someone else. You want to see her but you don't know where she is, even her name. Your relationship with John has gone from bad to worse since this happened; he even beats you when he's drunk, in spite of your love for him. Last night, he beat you again; you gave Sarah a phone call to tell her about this and Sarah was angry at what John did to you as usual. Sarah cares much about you, just like Carol, you and John's only daughter. Carol changed her last name to free herself from the influence of John's fame. She stands by your side and hates her father. This afternoon, you were in Stephen's office. It has been a long time since last time you met each other. After that thing happened between you and he, he's busy about his business and you hardly contacted with him. You were talking for a long time. During you chat, Stephen had left for a while. After coming back, he received a phone call that let him know John's death. Stephen Richman Background: You are the owner of this hotel. John, Victoria, and you have been good friends since you were high school classmates. During your youth, you fell in love with Victoria. However, it seemed that Victoria loved John instead of you. You always thought of John as your best friend, just like a brother. Besides, John's superior to you in every aspect; Victoria would be happier with John than with you, so you quit. In recent years, you were busy working and often went abroad on business. You have big hotels in several countries, and you've almost lost contact with John and Victoria. Even so, you still care about them very much, especially Victoria, the one you loved before. Secret: It was 15 years ago when John went abroad to direct his movie for one year. You still loved Victoria even though she's married, and you knew that she was unhappy because of John's over-ambitious for his career. During this period, she felt lonely and called you to accompany her every day. On a night, after dinner, both of you were drunk. You had so much desire for Victoria that you couldn't help to sleep with her. After that, she's pregnant and insisted to give a birth to the baby. Neither she nor you told John who the father is. Your baby was sent by John to another family that you didn't know. You didn't have the courage to tell John the truth. You felt extremely sorry for him; after all, he's your best friend, your buddy ---- how can one betray his best friend? To escape from this sense of quilt, you were immersed in business and often went abroad. On the other hand, you wanted very much to see your daughter who is adopted by someone else, but you know nothing about her, even her name. This afternoon, you and Victoria were talking in your office. It has been a long time since last time you met each other, so you had a lot to talk about. Of course, you still love Victoria, and that's why you remain single. You talked about your daughter, and were determined to look for her. During your chat, you had left your office to make arrangement for the party. When you came back, you received a phone call from Anna, the reporter. She told you that John's dead. Sarah Stone Background: You have been an actress for a long time and still keep you status as a big star in Hollywood. You were acquainted with Victoria when you acted in John's movie 10 years ago; Victoria and you became really good friends. After working with John for several films, you found John a bad-tempered person. You are always angry at John's violence toward Victoria since Victoria told you everything about their relationship, including her betrayal once ---- she slept with Stephen and had his baby whom John gave to another family to adopt. You often quarreled with John and kept Victoria's secrets because you're concerned about her. You tried to persuade Victoria to leave John for many times, but in vain. Secret: You are a homosexual, but your relationship with Victoria is not abnormal. You look on her as your sister and care about her from the bottom of your heart. You were shocked when seeing Anna Smith, the reporter. Seven years ago, you borrowed John's car without his permission. At midnight, you were drunk after a party and drove home yourself. Accidentally, something bad happened. You drove so fast that your went through the red light and bumped someone. You were too panic to know what to do; therefore you drove away at once. Unexpectedly, the victim, Anna Smith, memorized the license plate number, asking John to compensate her for damage. You didn't know what to do, so you confessed your fault to John and looked for his help. John used his power to cover up your guilt; hence Anna never realized it's you who bumped her. Nevertheless, you always feel sorry for Anna and also feel threatened because John's the only one who knows your secret but your relationship is getting worse and worse. Last night, Victoria gave you a phone call. She was weeping when she told you that John beat her again. John's behavior really irritated you. This afternoon, you went to John's room to have a talk with him, about Victoria and Anna. You wondered if you should tell Anna the truth. When you arrived at the doorway, you saw a "Don't bother" card hung on the door-handle. To make sure if John was sleeping, you opened the door a little, looking through the crevice at John, who was lying in his bed with his back toward the doorway. Then you closed the door noiselessly, determined to talk to him after his nap. P.S. You know Carol is John and Victoria's daughter. Wendy Ryder Background: You started to act when you were a college student. John gave you a nice chance to be the leading actress in your first move. Before being a film actress, you appeared in several advertisements which didn't make any sense. But nothing could stop your ambition for acting. Thanks to the success in your first movie, you became a famous actress. Now you can reveal your talent by playing different kinds of roles. Fortunately, you found your true love, Michael Damon, during the making of your second movie with John. Michael is so charming and knows almost everything about women. You can't stop loving him, but your love is kind of spiritualized. You and Michael didn't have sex relationship because of your personal reason. Secret: You had slept with John. When becoming a new actress in Hollywood, you were so innocent but vigorous and ambitious as well. John wanted you to do something for him in order to exchange your chance to be the leading actress. You agreed with him but had no idea what he wanted you to do until he forced you to sleep with him after he dated you out. You wanted to run away, but in vain. However, you couldn't tell others about John's sexy offence, because John's the most powerful one in Hollywood while you were nobody. It's so awful an experience that you couldn't get rid of the shadow in your mind. Hence, you always stayed away from men until you met Michael. He's very considerate so you can tell him almost everything. Although you know nothing about his background, you still believe that he's the right man. Everything looks perfect, except John. John couldn't get you out of his mind and couldn't help loving you. He's crazy about you and kept on haunting you even though you don't like him at all. You get in big trouble, but you keep this in secret because of your regret and shame for yourself. John often threatened you to leave Michael, or he would reveal your secret. Today before lunch, he said something bad about Michael. He gave you a note during lunch, asking you to meet him in the garden this afternoon. It seemed that he wanted to say something bad about Michael again. You decided to meet him and reject him directly regardless of what he would say. However, when arriving at the garden, you didn't see him. After 60 minutes waiting, John didn't show up, so you went back to your room. Carol Dennis Background: You are one of the most potential actresses. You became an actress when you were a high school student. With your effort, your outstanding performance brought fame to you. Besides movies, you also act in several popular series. You are aggressive and not contented with your achievement. Wendy Ryder is more famous and more popular than you but you don't understand why. You are proud of your appearance and talent, but people give Wendy more applause. Besides, you also love Michael, Wendy's boyfriend, but he belongs to Wendy. Therefore, you are jealous of Wendy, regarding her as your greatest competitor. Secret: You are John and Victoria's only daughter. To ward off the influence of John's fame, you changed your last name and moved out several years ago. John is too famous, and you don't want people to call you "John Kameraon's daughter" as if you can't succeed without your father. Hence you have kept this secret for a long time. You love your mother very much, and hate your father. In your opinion, John is not a good father because he cares nothing but his career. You know the relationship between them is getting worse --- John doesn't love Victoria; Victoria had slept with Stephen and had his baby; John wants to divorce because of another woman. No matter what happened, you always support your mother. Recently, you find something strange between John and Wendy. You're determined to ask Wendy and John what their relationship is, so you went to Wendy's room this afternoon. However, there's nobody in the room, so you went back to your room. In the evening, you walked to John's room. Standing on the corridor, near John's room, you saw someone walking out of John's room. It's Judy, whose face was pale, looking around to see if there's anyone there, but she didn't see you. She seemed very panic; you had no idea what she entered John's room for. Then she left, and in a short time everyone knew your father's death. Michael Damon Background: You became an actor when you were 27 years old. Fortunately, your second movie made you not only win the Academy Award of best actor but also become a big star in Hollywood. However, no one knows your background because you want your own privacy. You get along with your companion very well, but they still know nothing about you---- where you come from, where your family are, or what you did before you are an actor. You tell them that you don't want people to know too much, because you may get into trouble since you are so famous now. You never had love affairs until Wendy became your girlfriend during the making of John's movie. You often have argument with John because your opinion of movies is always different from John's. Anyway, you still admit John's style for his talent. Secret: You are the killer. You were female before and your name was "Michelle", but you never regarded yourself as a girl or a homosexual. You looked tall and kind of neutral, always falling in love with girls and rejected by them. When studying in Yale, you loved Wendy, who didn't know you yet, on the first sight. You thought that you found your true love, but it's impossible to make her be with you. Therefore, after graduation, you had a sex-changing operation, and made a little change of your face to be a man's. Now you are a successful actor and win Wendy's heart. Nevertheless, Wendy can't have further relationship with you because of John. John was crazy about Wendy and had forced her to sleep with him when she's 20. He kept on haunting Wendy and even found out your secret. He threatened you to break up with Wendy and act in his next film, or he would announce it to public. To prevent him from destroying your career and your life, also for Wendy, you killed him in this afternoon. John was threatening you and you're quarreling with him in his room as usual. He said he got an old photo of yours when you're still a girl. Then came Jean, who couldn't wait to talk to you. Both of you went to the restaurant in the hotel. After leaving the restaurant, you came back to kill John, and put his body on the bed, his back toward the doorway, making arrangement as if he's sleeping. You hung the "Don't bother." card on the door-handle. When you left, you heard someone's footstep, so you hid yourself in the corner of the corridor. It's Sarah. She just took a glance through the crevice in the door instead of entering John's room; then she went away. You can tell the group that you saw Sarah in front of John's room while you passed by. (You and John's rooms were on the same floor.) Anna Smith Background: You are a periodical entertainment reporter, energetic and aggressive, keeping asking people questions. You love your job, because it's your interest, your dream. You like to find out the truth, especially the secret of those famous people. You have disclosed many inside stories in Hollywood which led you a high status in the entertainment world. No one can escape from your investigation----you know the conflict between John and Victoria; you know Carol has kind of close relationship with John----except Michael, the most noticeable popular actor. You know nothing about him, (no one knows) and you are interested in this mysterious person. You come to this celebration party to do your report, with your niece, Judy, a sweet girl who is very close to you. Secret: In your childhood, you had a dream to be a news reporter or a newscaster on TV. That's why you always work so hard. Unfortunately, seven years ago, a car accident not only took your one leg but also shattered your dream. It was midnight when you walked across the street after finishing your work; a car suddenly ran through the red light, bumping into you!! You knew the accident was caused by John Kameraon because you memorized the license plate number, and it's John's car. However, John used his money and power to cover up his crime. Hence, you are a successful reporter now, but it's still impossible for you to forgive him. During that period, little Judy always listened to you talk about your sorrow, and consoled you. She is your brother's adopted daughter (she doesn't know that), but you love her as she's your daughter. When she asked you to bring her to the party, you permitted her to follow you. This afternoon, to interview Michael, you went to the floor where John and Michael's rooms were. You heard some noise from John's room, so you stood in front of John's door to listen more clearly. John was quarreling with Michael. You heard Michael, "What on earth do you want!? " Then John said, "You have no choice but to leave Wendy!! " Suddenly, you heard someone's footstep; you hid yourself. You saw Jean entering John's room. After a while, Jean and Michael walked out of John's room, going down stairs. You came back to your room. In the evening, you received Judy's call----she told you with quiver that John's dead. Therefore, you rushed to John's room----he died in his bed----then you called Stephen to tell him about John's death. Judy Smith Background: You are the niece of Anna Smith, who is your father's sister. Your father is a rich merchant. Anna cares about you a lot and has much affection for you. You love your aunt as well. Jean Weird is your schoolmate and your neighbor. She is kind of dangerous because she often does something crazy. For example, she would scream in a movie theater to catch attention, jump up from her seat in class to scare her teacher, or walk through a red light with her eyes closed. Actually, you don't mind it----anyway, she is a nice person. You like Michael's movies, while Jean is really crazy about him. Therefore, when she knew you would come to this party, she was excited, begging you to let her join you. Secret: You come to this party for the purpose of searching your own parents----John and Victoria. One day, you heard your parents' conversation unintentionally. They said you were not their child, and it's John who gave you to them. Your parents didn't treat you very well. They thought of themselves barren, so they adopted you. To their surprise, they had a baby after adopted you. That's why they are always more indifferent to you. However, Anna, your aunt, regards you as her daughter. Your relationship with Anna is much better than with your parents. You also know something about her lame leg----the car accident caused by John. Therefore, you hate John for two reasons: he deserted you, and he hurt your dear aunt, Anna. You have a birthmark on your neck; maybe John and Victoria can recognize this. You wanted to talk to John in private, so you went to John's room this evening. You saw a "Don't bother." card on his door-handle, but you really wanted to see him---- even you would disturb him. To your big shock, John was dead in his bed, with his throat cut open. You felt that your brain became blank and you didn't know what to do----it's so surprising that you even could not scream. You called Anna from John's room to tell her about this. You were scared to death. Walking out of John's room, you were panic and needed help. You looked around to see if there's anyone who could help you, but no one is there. So you left the area. Jean Weird Background: You are Michael's fan. You have seen his every movie for many times (although he has acted for just two years), and you are really crazy about him. In spite of tremendous collections that you made of Michael's photos, clippings, and videotapes, he's still a mysterious person to you----that's one of reasons why you love him so much. You would do anything for him. When people said there're conflicts between John and your dear Michael, you're irritated with John. "How dare that arrogant director bully my Michael?! ",you thought. Judy is your neighbor and your schoolmate. People often say you are a freak because of your strange behavior. Judy doesn't care about that; she is one of your close friends. When you knew Judy would come to this party, you were very excited, begging her to let you come. She permitted you to join the party with her because she knew you loved Michael very much. Secret: You have mental disease. Several years ago, you hurt other people with a knife, and you're sent to a psychiatry clinic. Time passed by; you came back to home. Despite the treatment you have received for many years, you are still considered kind of violent and dangerous by doctors. Therefore, you take medicine to control your disease. To prevent you from hurting someone else, you're supposed to go to the hospital four times a month. However, you came to this party instead of the hospital. You couldn't wait to talk to Michael. After lunch, you went to Michael's room but he's not there. Disappointed for a while, you heard Michael's voice from John's room. It seemed that they're quarreling. John talked to Michael with his threatening tone, and it made you angry. You said, "I must help Michael get away from this unreasonable tyrant." Then you rushed into John's room without considering if you would disturb them. Actually you cared about nothing. Al l you wanted to do is chat with Michael face to face. They stopped quarreling as soon as you enter the room. Michael seemed to understand what you thought of, so he went to the restaurant in this hotel with you. After chatting and asking him to put his signature on a poster, you went back to Anna and Judy's room. Clues Victoria Kameraon Clues: You noticed the birthmark on Judy's neck. You and Stephen's daughter has a birthmark on her neck, too. Besides, she looks kind of like Stephen. Ask her about her background. During your conversation with Stephen, he had gone out of his office for a while. After that, John was murdered. Ask Stephen where he went. Stephen Richman Clues: Victoria often talks about Sarah. She cares a lot about Victoria, but it seems that Sarah has too much affection for Victoria. It's kind of unusual. Victoria told you that John loved another woman. Who's the woman? Is she involved in this murder? Try to find it out. Sarah Stone Clues: Stephen seems an intimate friend to Victoria. Their relationship is kind of unusual. However, you don't know much about Stephen, because he often goes abroad. Try to figure out what had happened among Stephen, Victoria, and John. Wendy Ryder Clues: You found that Jean takes some kind of medicine, which has strong effect for crazy people. Perhaps she has mental disease; she may hurt Michael or hurt other people for Michael. Tell others about this. John asked you to meet him this afternoon, but he didn't appear. Where did John go? Who's the last person John met? Ask other people. Carol Dennis Clues: Wendy seems try to cover up something happened between John and her. Every time she saw John, she stayed away from him. However, John always praised Wendy and tried to get closer to her. Why? Michael Damon Clues: Carol had conflicts with John; the way she looked at John was always indifferent. On the other hand, they looked familiar with each other. Ask Carol what her relationship with John is and where she was when the murder happened. Anna Smith Clues: When you rushed to John's room to make sure if he's dead, you found an old photo in John's wallet. It's a photo of a teenage girl with long hairs, who resembles Michael very much. On the back, it said, "Michelle Damon, 17 years old." Ask Michael about this. Judy Smith Clues: You were aware of Sarah's uneasy facial expression when she saw Anna. Ask her why she was so panic. Before lunch, you saw John talk to Wendy in the garden. John said, "You can't be with Michael. He's abnormal! He's not a man like me!" Why did John say that? Jean Weird Clues: During lunch time, you saw a waiter pass a note to Wendy. After reading it, Wendy threw it into the trash can, but you picked it up out of curiosity. It said, "Wendy, meet me in the garden this afternoon. I have something about Michael to tell you. He's not a man that you think. Come and I'll convince you."