The Mowbray Murders’ story began in September 2008 when Darren and Laura Weir became proprietors of a guest house in Eastbourne. The pair, both ex-barristers, decided that it was the perfect setting for murder mystery weekends, so Darren penned the first murder, The Duke’s Will.
He then got in touch with a local theatre company, Underground Productions (UP), to see if they would be willing to help with auditions.
Before long, the cast was assembled, rehearsed, and ready for their premier murder mystery weekend in January 2009.
From the beginning, these events were interactive with the guests taking on key roles as suspects and the actors staying in character throughout the weekend.
This format was hugely successful, and soon, local people were asking for one night murder mysteries for those who lived locally and wanted to enjoy the fun.
The plot was adapted, and one night murder mystery evenings began in April 2009.
Guests who attended the first murder mystery were soon clamouring for a second helping. Our second plot, Donation of Death, was written by Robert A Wood a local author who was one of the foundering members and is still one of the Mowbray Murder actors.
Feedback was excellent, with reviews of the murder mysteries appearing in national newspapers.
In 2014 we took our Murder Mysteries to the stage with an interactive show called Murder on the Home Front, and in 2016 and 2018 added another two shows to our dinner theatre line-up, Death Factor and Speakeasy – Die Easier.
However, everything stopped in 2020 thanks to covid, and since then we’ve been working hard to adapt our shows to be downloadable so they can be played at home, whilst at the same time converting Donation of Death first into a book and then into a feature film. Watch this space!