One Murder. Two Brothers. Three Doors. Four Suspects – and maybe some port. All will blend together in March as the Oswego Players ask the deadly, but farcical question, “Who killed Edward Eldemire Esquire?”

That and many further shenanigans are explored in “Old Money, New Habits” a new one-act play written and directed by Alexis Martin. It’s part of the thrilling double-bill “The Games We Play” coming to the Frances Marion Brown Theater at Fort Ontario in Oswego on March 8th, 9th and 10th.

The production is the third-annual Don McCann Playwriting Showcase. Martin’s script, her first-ever, Co-won the 2023 grand prize. The evening will also feature the other winning script, “Game of the Week” written by Aaron Buitron and Phil Gross and directed by Kevin Colvin.

The Showcase kicks-off the Players’ 86th-Anniversary Season. Started in 2022 as a one-evening event, it has built into a much-anticipated, annual full weekend run, a new tradition for “The Little Theatre on the Water.”

As well as being her first staged play, Martin will be making her directorial debut. The cast for the production includes: Matthew Fleming as the Butler, Scott Bandla as Percival Davies, Tammy Thompson as Penelope Davies, Kevin Colvin as Monty Davies, Gina Mazzoli as Felicity Davies, and Peter Mahan as The Strange Man.

Working behind the scenes with Martin are Sherri Metz, Norman Berlin III, Marie Sterphone, and William Edward White.

Tickets are “Pay-What-You-Wish”. Curtain times are 7:30PM on Friday Saturday March 8th and 9th, with a 2PM matinee on Sunday, March 10th. Tickets and more information may be found at oswegoplayers.org or by calling the theatre’s box office at (315) 343-5138.

The Annual Showcase and playwriting contest honors the memory of Donald J. McCann, who was a writer, director, former President and longtime historian for the Oswego Players. The annual one act playwriting contest was established in his name and provides Central New York playwrights the opportunity to get their work read and judged.

The Donald J. McCann Memorial Playwriting Contest is funded by generous donations received from across the community. All proceeds from this year’s production will benefit the fund’s mission of supporting new theatrical works and their creators.

Writer-director Alexis Martin takes to the stage to walk through an early rehearsal with her cast of “Old Money, New Habits” part of the Third-Annual Don McCann Playwriting Showcase which runs March 8th, 9th, and 10th at the Frances Marion Brown Theatre at Fort Ontario, kicking-off The Oswego Players’ 86th-anniversary season. Pictured, from left, are: Tammy Thompson, Scott Bandla, Matthew Fleming, Kevin Colvin, and Alexis Martin. Tickets for the “Pay-What-You-Will” event may be obtained by going to oswegoplayers.org or calling the Players’ Box Office at (315) 343-5138. All proceeds will go to help fund The Donald J. McCann Memorial Playwriting Contest