Robin Foye-Edwards raised the bright pink urinal cake high above her head, admiring it in the stage lights at 2nd Street Theater.

Clinton K. Clark, Danielle Herron and Pierce Morrow — Foye-Edwards’ cast mates in Dionysus Presents’ “The Whodunits,” a new murder mystery dinner theater production premiering at Maragas Winery in Culver on Saturday — gathered around Foye-Edwards, trying to stifle laughter. This particular scene being rehearsed, in which the principle cast begins to collect clues, comes early in the show.

“We have a clue!” Foye-Edwards shouted, still brandishing the urinal cake. “This bar of soap.”

Morrow grinned behind his sunglasses and shaggy mop of hair, while Clark, dressed as a detective, and Herron, wearing pajamas, rolled their eyes. Foye-Edwards went on to explain where she found it after prompting from Morrow: a sink. A tall sink, with no hot- or cold-water knobs, just one lever.

Since beginning rehearsals in November, the hardest part for the cast has been keeping a straight face, they said.

“We’re trying to get all our giggles out now so we can keep a straight face during the show,” Clark said. “The last time we rehearsed, Robin had both of us (gesturing to Herron) on the floor, like, gasping.”

Clark, founder of Dionysus Presents and author of “The Whodunits,” calls the show “different than any other murder mystery you’ve ever really experienced.” Without giving too much away, the script is almost an exercise in how many times cast members can break the fourth wall (Clark eventually plays a version of himself in the show). There are references to Bend-specific stereotypes (the stoner, the snow/ski bunny), Dionysus Presents’ past productions at Maragas Winery, and a show-within-a-show plot that repeatedly folds in on itself as the hourlong play goes on.

Each show is a personalized experience tailored to the venue hosting it. At Maragas Winery, the mystery centers around owner Doug Maragas; future shows at The Capitol on Feb. 21 and at 2nd Street Theater on April 16 will likewise focus on those respective venues’ owners.

“Everything you know about murder mysteries, forget it when it comes to this,” Clark said.

Clark, a Central Oregon native, got the idea for a murder mystery dinner theater show while working with a troupe in Portland in 2013 and 2014. He returned to Bend in late 2014 and founded Dionysus Presents, which has staged productions of “The Santaland Diaries” at 2nd Street Theater in 2014, and “Macbeth” at Maragas Winery last summer. According to Clark, the murder mystery seemed like the logical next step.

“When I got back to town, I realized there was kind of a lack of that style of theater here,” Clark said. “They used to have the murder mystery dinner train (Crooked River Dinner Train in Prineville), which is now defunct, and I thought it would be a really good idea to kind of get something going myself.”

Initially Clark planned to work with some of the same people from the now-defunct Murder Mystery Dinner Train and bring an already-written show to Central Oregon. However, that changed when he met Herron, Foye-Edwards and Morrow and decided to write a script specifically for them.

“The more we started to talk about it … the more we kind of realized that (Clark) was capable of writing it with some input,” Herron said. “And kind of just wanting to cater it more towards this town specifically, rather than take a general murder mystery, really intrigued us.”

Herron’s character in the show, Karen, ends up being a voice of reason to the rest of the cast’s antics. Each character ends up with a stereotypical murder-mystery role to play; Karen ends up a reluctant French maid.

“She really wants to be the detective deep down,” Herron said.

Foye-Edwards plays Courtney, a ditzy ski bum who takes on the role of Russian spy; while Morrow plays her Oregon stoner boyfriend Aaron, whose character develops into the celebrity hotshot movie star as the play goes on. Clark, as mentioned before, plays himself (an actor) playing a detective.

As in any good murder mystery, everyone onstage is a suspect.

“And of course there’s motives that all the characters have that are kind of subtextual a little bit,” Clark said.

Because of the way the show breaks the fourth wall, everyone in the audience is a suspect, as well. Attendees will be drawn into the performance early, and their interactions with the cast could affect the show.

“… The clues that pertain to each person’s motive and whatnot are going to be planted within the audience,” Clark said. “And so … our intermission is kind of our chance to eat our dinners, for the audience to eat their dinners, for us to mingle a little bit and turn it into an improv session where we can motivate them to pull out the clues, check out the clues, help us figure out what clue belongs to who and things like that.”

This show kicks off a flurry of activity for Clark and Dionysus Presents this year. The company will bring “Hamlet” to Maragas Winery in the summer, continuing with the outdoor Shakespeare theme. Clark is also writing a commissioned script for the Deschutes County Historical Society in celebration of the county’s centennial; and his first full-length play, “The Beatles Die on Tuesday,” will premiere at 2nd Street Theater in August.

Along with all this, Clark and his band of murder mystery actors — also dubbed The Whodunits troupe — will continue to hone the show. Clark said he’s working on a version that can be adapted to private events.

“That’s kind of what I’m working on right now, is having multiple scripts and options for people because I want to be available … for private events, and then versatile for our public events as well,” Clark said. “So like I said, I don’t want any show to be just like the other.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7814, bmcelhiney@bendbulletin.com