Join us for our next reading on May 20, where we’ll dive into a play by one of our very own Reading Theatre members, Toph Whitmore, entitled A Death in Gravy. The reading begins at 1:30pm, so please arrive by 1:15pm if you’d like a chance to read.

Paper copies have been generously provided by Toph; however, if you’d like to receive a digital copy in advance, please email ashton@masseytheatre.com.

ABOUT A DEATH IN GRAVY

As high-society party guests toast the new year at a posh London mansion, a man lies dead at the dinner table, his life snuffed out just minutes shy of the 1970s, and anyone in attendance could have done the snuffing. Sounds like a case for famed French inspector Jacques Hughes, except for one little problem: He’s the one face down in the sauce.

A Death in Gravy is a farcical, single-set, two-act comic whodunnit that both pays homage to and satirizes Agatha Christie: Everyone’s a suspect and anyone’s a sleuth. Who will step up to solve Jacques’ murder in his absence? And who killed “the last of the great French detectives”? Was it the gravy magnate? The high-society dowager? The indolent aspiring-actor son? The movie director? The right-hand man? The best-selling author? The loyal servant? The mischievous chef? The handsome accountant? Or perhaps all of the above?

ABOUT TOPH WHITMORE

TOPH WHITMORE is an award-winning BC playwright and (very) occasional community theatre actor. His plays are typically two acts, usually feature a single set, and center female characters in ensemble casts. Toph is a proud immigrant and second-career playwright.

His recent work includes:

• DOUGIE’S LAST CHRISTMAS, a darkly-comic murder mystery set in Scotland. (Winner, 2024 London Independent Story prize)
• BANANA PALM, a farce about modern love, chosen family, and one very old cat. (Winner, Best Stage Play: 2025 Cannes Script Festival, The Script Awards Los Angeles)
• THE PLACE WHERE THE GEESE HAVE BEEN, an only-too-true-business-satire-love-story farce. (Winner, 2025 McClaren Memorial Comedy Playwriting competition)
• A DEATH IN GRAVY, a comic whodunnit in the classic English parlour-comedy tradition. (Winner, Best Stage Play, 2026 Best Script Award – London)

Toph also authored two pantos: TITANIC 2: THE ICEBERG COMETH and THE BEAST OF MT. SEYMOUR, which was first produced in 2019.

Reading Theatre is created for those with a passion for live theatre. A live play reading of iconic plays over the ages. All are welcome and encouraged — from the seasoned professional to the inquisitive amateur and everyone in between.

Show up and read, or listen to others read these incredible shows.  A short discussion may take place…or not.  This is an event led by the cast and audience.

Readers will be chosen just before the play reading begins and will be cast by those who show up and express an interest in being involved.  Some roles may be double cast.

This event is being led by Allan Morgan, Senior Artist in Residence and Vancouver theatre scene stalwart. We’d love to see you there!

ABOUT ALLAN MORGAN

Allan has been a stage actor for more than thirty years. Some highlights include appearing in London, GB, Adelaide Australia, Wellington NZ and San Francisco, all with The Overcoat. He appeared for several seasons at Bard on the Beach, notably in The Tempest as Prospero, as well as King John, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Much Ado About Nothing.

He has toured across Canada with the Electric Company in Studies in Motion. He has appeared at The Belfry, notably in The Drawer Boy, Dirty Blonde, and I am My Own Wife for which he received the Victoria Critic’s Award for best performance. Other favourites include Red, Thinking of Yu, and Abraham Lincoln Goes to the Theatre for ATP in Calgary.

Allan has two solo plays: I Walked the Line; and Pride: for the young gay, the ungay and the jaded queen in all of us.