Sock & Buskin Theatre Company’s 2026 Valentine’s Day murder mystery party was Stefanie Austin and Kari Williamson’s Death by Chocolate, which I saw as part of the dress rehearsal mock audience. This type of semi-scripted performance is difficult to do, especially with a smaller audience, since so much of the show consists of audience interaction—but it was really in the audience interaction that the cast of Death by Chocolate shown.

The show is set during a party thrown by Barney Mayhew, Jr.—known as the “King of Cocoa”—who is the primary supplier of cocoa to both the Capidelli and Montabury families, each of whom own chocolate businesses with roughly forty percent market share. The two families are fierce rivals, with different approaches to chocolatiering. The Capidellis stand for innovation, having just released their “ultra-stable” chocolate, which supposedly lasts forever; by contrast, the Montabury approach is “rich” and “traditional” chocolate. The fierce rivalry gets more heated when Roman Montabury announces that he and Julia Capidelli are engaged—Romeo and Julieting this chocolate rivalry. Also present is Darcy Collins, who has the “perfect palate,” able to taste even the most minor differences in a recipe. And supporting Barney is his new assistant, Becky (if I remember the name correctly, since she’s the only one not listed in the Chocolate World Magazine Who’s Who listing sent to the dress rehearsal audience before the show.

The murder mystery party format can be difficult for actors because it requires different skill sets—a blend of performing scripted lines and extensive audience interaction. Trying to do both can be taxing, and often the audience interaction is more challenging because it’s harder to effectively prepare for, since it’s semi-scripted at best and actors need to be prepared to improvise. However, for Death by Chocolate, the audience interaction was much stronger than the scripted parts. Multiple times throughout the scripted sections, there were longish gaps where it felt like someone was supposed to be speaking, and then finally it felt like one of the other actors jumped in to try and save the situation by moving the action forward. Especially as an actor, these silences can be really uncomfortable, so I very much hope that the dress rehearsal helped the performers get nerves out of their systems.

However, as I said, the audience interaction portion of the show was excellent. I’ve either acted with, directed, acted for, or worked on production teams with everyone in the cast except Ryan Gartland (who played James Montabury, and who I will probably do theatre work with at some point, though I have seen Ryan in several things) and the person playing Mayhew (I couldn’t find a cast list online, and as far as I know, this is the first time I’ve seen this guy in anything, so I apologize for not knowing the name). Everyone else I’ve directly worked with, so I am not surprised that they did an excellent job interacting with the audience.

One element that makes these kinds of productions fun is that each actor develops their character’s distinct personality, allowing a wide range of interactions. This varied from Tara Caimi’s very proper and haughty (even including an English accent) Frida Montabury, to Stefanie Austin’s brash and often rude Darcy Collins, to Kari Williamson’s professional and powerful Patricia Capidelli, to Ryan Gartland’s proud and irritable James Montabury, to the nervous and shifty Mayhew, to Lynn Theodose’s efficient and knowledgeable Becky, to the starcrossed lovers Jace Beauton and Chase Wilson, each of whom was confident and positive in their interactions with the audience. Each performer brought their own unique take to the characters, so even apart from gathering info to solve the mystery, it is just fascinating to talk to the characters and learn about them and their personalities.