A westbound overnight train, a rock slide in an isolated canyon, and two passengers dead before dessert. That is the premise of Murder on the 518, the summer production of the Greater Escambia Council for the Arts, which raises its curtain in downtown Atmore for a run spanning two weekends.
The Setup
The play, written by Michelle Giles, strands a dining car full of eccentric travelers with no way to call for help and no way off the train. The passengers include two newlyweds, an astronomy professor, a sports recruiter, a chief executive, a movie star, and an aspiring musician, along with the waitstaff who serve them. Because the victims appear to have been poisoned, everyone aboard is a suspect. The surviving passengers must work out who among them is a killer before the train reaches its destination and the culprit slips away for good.
It is a family-friendly mystery built to keep an audience guessing to the final scene, with the sort of misdirection that rewards paying attention to who is standing where when the lights go down.
Performance Details
Cast members have been in rehearsal in the days leading up to opening night, running scenes and setting the timing that a mystery of this kind demands.
- Evening performances: 7 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, July 9 through July 11, with the run continuing the following weekend, July 16 through July 18.
- Sunday performances: July 12 and July 19, closing out each weekend.
- Tickets: $12, available at the door or online at gecarts.org.
- Doors: Open 30 minutes before each show.
- Venue: 100 S. Trammell St., Atmore.
Audiences are encouraged to arrive early. Seating in a community house of this size fills quickly for a popular title, and a murder mystery is a poor show to walk into late.
An All-Volunteer Company
The Greater Escambia Council for the Arts operates as an all-volunteer organization, a structure that lets it hold ticket prices at a level almost unheard of for live theatre. Twelve dollars buys an evening of staged storytelling that in most markets would cost several times as much. Every role, on stage and behind it, is filled by someone donating time: actors, stage managers, set builders, light and sound operators, box office volunteers, and the people who sweep the house after the last car pulls out of the lot.
That model has a second effect worth noting. Because the company depends on volunteers rather than paid professionals, it functions as an open door. Residents with no formal training regularly find themselves cast, or handed a paintbrush and a set piece, or seated at a light board. The organization’s stated mission is to bring quality performances to the community while maintaining a family-friendly atmosphere, and it actively invites newcomers to participate on stage or behind the scenes.
Why Small-Town Theatre Endures
Community theatre occupies a particular place in a town like Atmore. It is one of the few remaining forms of entertainment that requires an audience to be physically present, in a room, with neighbors, watching people they may well know by name. There is no pause button and no second screen. The actor who forgets a line recovers in front of everyone, and the audience roots for the recovery.
Productions of this kind also serve as a training ground. Young performers who take a small part in a summer mystery often return for larger roles, and some carry the experience into school drama programs and beyond. The revenue from ticket sales and memberships, meanwhile, funds the next show, the next set of costumes, and the maintenance of a downtown venue that would otherwise sit dark.
Looking Ahead
The company is already looking past this production. Auditions for its next show are scheduled at the same Trammell Street address, with roles available for both women and men and readers invited to come prepared for a cold reading from the script. No prior stage experience is required, which is very much the point.
For now, though, the 518 is boarding. Tickets are twelve dollars, the doors open half an hour early, and someone in that dining car is not who they claim to be.
The Value of a $12 Ticket in a Small City
The Greater Escambia Council for the Arts has made access a defining feature of its work. By keeping admission at twelve dollars and drawing entirely on volunteers, the organization removes the financial and social barriers that keep many small-town residents away from live performance. A family of four can spend an evening at the theatre for less than the cost of a single movie ticket in a larger market, and they do so in a room filled with their own neighbors.
That accessibility is not accidental. Community arts councils across the Gulf Coast region exist largely to ensure that residents of smaller cities like Atmore, Brewton and Flomaton have cultural opportunities that larger metros take for granted. The council’s downtown Atmore home on Trammell Street places those opportunities within walking distance of the city center, and its open-door casting means the stage belongs as much to first-timers as to seasoned performers. Murder on the 518 is, in that sense, both a summer entertainment and a quiet argument for why the arts matter in places far from the bright lights of the big city.
The summer season is a vital one for community arts organizations, which rely on warm-weather audiences to fund the rest of their year. A well-attended run of Murder on the 518 helps underwrite the council’s fall and winter programming, from youth workshops to holiday performances. For the volunteers who build the sets and run the lights, the applause at the end of each show is its own reward, but the ticket sales are what keep the doors open.
Those interested in getting involved, whether on stage or behind the scenes, can watch gecarts.org for announcements about upcoming auditions and volunteer opportunities. In a town the size of Atmore, the difference between a thriving arts scene and a dark theatre often comes down to a handful of residents willing to step forward, and the council has made clear that the door is open to all.