By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current
Geneseo’s Richmond Hill Players conclude their 2026 season with “An Old-Fashioned Family Murder,” a murder-mystery/comedy by Joe DiPietro.
The show will be presented Thursdays through Sundays, Nov. 12-22, in the Barn Theatre at Richmond Hill Park in Geneseo.
Jonathan Grafft of Geneseo directs the play.
Jack Sellers, left, Shayan DeVoss and Jessalyn Cohen are among the cast members in “An Old-Fashioned Family Murder,” a comedy-mystery to be presented by the Richmond Hill Players in the Barn Theatre in Geneseo. Contributed Photo
ABOUT THE PLAY:
It’s a dark and stormy night in 1943, and a rain-swept, once-grand mansion becomes the scene of a hilarious, high-stakes whodunit. When a pompous writer gathers an eccentric clan and accidentally spills a dangerous family secret, tensions turn deadly—leaving every relative, fumbling fiancé and suspicious guest in the crosshairs.
As a local detective struggles to untangle the web of lies, it just might take a sharp-eyed mother to solve the crime before the killer strikes again in this perfect blend of vintage suspense and laugh-out-loud comedy.
The show is rated PG for mild profanity.
The cast features Jackie Skiles and Jack Sellers, both of Geneseo; Mike Kelly and Shayan DeVoss of Rock Island; Samuel Carrington of Galesburg; and Jessalyn Cohen of Davenport.
The staff includes stage manager Kady Derbyshire of Moline; light/sound designer/operator Dana Skiles; costumer Anne Keeney-Grafft; set builder Mike Skiles of Geneseo; and set builder Jim Skiles of Colona.
On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, the doors open at 6:30 p.m., with the show beginning at 7:30 p.m. Sunday shows are 3 p.m. matinees, with the doors opening at 2 p.m.
Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling the Richmond Hill box office at 309-944-2244 or by visiting the website at rhplayers.com.
Late seating is not permitted; no one will be admitted to the theater after the show has started.
Patrons who leave the theater during the performance will not be allowed to return to their seats until there is a suitable break in the play.
Admission to all performances is $12.
An audio-described performance will be held Friday, Nov. 13. Richmond Hill also offers assistive listening devices (ALDs), which can be requested when reservations are made.
ABOUT: RICHMOND HILL PLAYERS—a nonprofit community theater group that has presented plays on the converted top floor of an old dairy barn in Geneseo since 1968. Approximately 100 active members are involved onstage and offstage each year, with actors, directors, backstage personnel, support staff and audiences drawn from a 75- to 100-mile radius that includes cities in both Illinois and Iowa.
