Do you dig dinner, disco and drama?

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27: A four-month run of dinner, disco and drama featuring a popular Bermudian cast kicks off this month at Shine’s House of Music.

Death By Disco will take you on a journey back to the 1970s and what’s more, the audience will be part of the production as the actors perform around them as they dine.

The show is a family affair with father Wendell ‘Shine’ Hayward, and his children Nishanthi and Nadanja Bailey sharing the stage for a single production for the first time. Also cast are Jah Simmons, Deborah Joell, Raymond Johnson and DeAzha Chambers.

Death By Disco is a script by Virginia-based theatre company Killer Scripts that specialises in murder mysteries.

The plot revolves around a 70s disco club that is holding its annual dance contest.

The dance partners are competing for the title of disco king or queen but suddenly there is a death and story turns to finding out the circumstances behind the tragedy.

‘Shine’ told the Bermuda Sun: “This is really a murder mystery with a twist, we have taken the play and ‘Bermudianized’ it. We are taking people on a little trip back to the 70s and it’s about reliving all the sounds — the Bee Gees, Rufus Thomas, Donna Summer, Kool and the Gang, and Earth and Wind and Fire.

“The interesting thing about the audience is that they are like characters too, they are a big part of what we are doing.

“We encourage our guests to get their purple flares out, their polyesters, their ‘fros and their platform shoes.”

The show will be directed by Nishanthi Bailey who is also featured in the play.

The shows is to take place at Shine’s House of Music every Monday and Thursday for four months. ‘Shine’ said that the show is very mobile and so can be transported to any venue for anyone interested in staging it on other nights of the week.

Nashanthi said the long run of the show was a “great step forward” for the cast members.

“As artists that’s your passion — you want to be able to be able to work in your field full time but in Bermuda we don’t have a platform for that. The exciting part about this is we are providing an opportunity for us to work on something on a continual basis. We are very excited by that.”

Asked what it was like to share the stage with his children, ‘Shine’, a respected saxophonist, said: “They are the super stars now — I’m just playing the supporting roll! It’s great to see ‘Shanti’ taking control and it’s great to watch what ‘Danja’ does what he does in that way you cannot predict.

But we are all family in this cast.”

• The show opens on July 2 and will run every Monday and Thursday until November 1. Shows start at 7:30pm.Tickets are on sale for $75 and includes the show, a complimentary swizzle and a four course meal. Tickets are available from www.bdatix.bm, All Wrapped Up and Fabulous Fashions. There is limited seating per show so book early. The event is sponsored by the Bermuda Federation of Musician and Variety Artists. Contact 293-9092 or [email protected] for more information. Shine’s is at 91 Reid Street. The show is rated PG13.