Shauna Brand and The Meddlesome Mystery of The Fringe Festival

If you want to create great theater, it takes drive, determination and a certain degree of unhealthy obsession. These are all traits that writer-director Shauna Brand shares with the title character in her play The Advantageous Adventures of Mrs. Meddlesome: The Curse of the Tomb, which premieres at The Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival on August 4.

“I’ve been doing plays since I was six,” Brand says. She studied at Weber State University and went on to get a Master’s Degree at Westminster College. Brand is now the Middle School Theatre teacher at Rowland Hall Private School. After directing plays for over 28 years, she took the leap and founded Speakeazy Theatre Company in the fall of 2022. The Advantageous Adventures of Mrs. Meddlesome: The Curse of the Tomb is their sophomore show. “It’s the second in a series of these 1940s radio plays that I’ve written, and they are just cheerful, fun little pieces to do,” Brand says. 

“I just write, and the audience will find itself.”

The first Mrs. Meddlesome episode, Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death, was performed last year at The Box, and The Curse of the Tomb is the second in the series. The episodes follow Helen Meddlesome, a long-time widow and amateur sleuth, and her nice and only living relative, Catherine Uptight. The duo frequently travel together and just as frequently find themselves getting into trouble by being in the wrong place at the right time. In Episode 2: The Curse of the Tomb, that place is Cairo, Egypt, an exotic backdrop for murder and mayhem. “It’s made for an actor’s actor—character actors who can play different roles— and I’ve got some great people who are a part of that,” Brand says. The role of Mrs. Meddlesome is played by local improv coach, voice over actress and teacher Megan Sticht. “She’s so full of different voices, and I feel very fortunate to have her,” Brand says. 

If the Mrs. Meddlesome plays seem a bit influenced by the works of Agatha Christie, that’s entirely intentional. “I love her books,” Brand says, adding that she sees a kinship between Meddlesome and Christie’s Miss Marple. “She’s an amateur sleuth who happens upon things and has to pull up her sleeves and get things done because she thinks everyone else is incapable,” Brand says. The Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival, one of Utah’s premiere, annual theatrical events, felt like a perfect showcase for The Curse of the Tomb. “The festival really is a place where little theater companies can produce and have an audience,” Brand says. The Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival performs over two weekends, showcasing 20 performing artists and groups, including theater, dance, music, magic, storytelling and more. 

Brand’s piece at last year’s festival, Trip, was a dark and serious drama, and with The Curse of the Tomb, the dramatist is excited to be reaching a wider audience. “I just write, and the audience will find itself,” Brand says. “I’m incapable of writing with someone else’s formula in mind. I don’t see myself as anyone particularly edgy, though I’ve written a couple of edgy pieces, but I’m just as comfortable writing something that would be considered G-Rated if it were a film,” she says.

“It’s the second in a series of these 1940s radio plays that I’ve written, and they are just cheerful, fun little pieces to do.”

The Advantageous Adventures of Mrs. Meddlesome: The Curse of The Tomb will perform Friday, August 4 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, August 5 at 3:00 pm, and Sunday August 6 at 6:00 pm at the Alliance Theater at Trolley Square, and all proceeds will be going to the Terri O’Brien Medical Expense Fund, which is dedicated to raising funds for a local musician and single mother who is battling cancer. The old-fashioned radio drama is one of two productions Brand wrote that are set to perform this year, with The Kitchen Sink premiering this season as part of the new play reading series at Wasatch Theatre Company, where Brand is a playwright in residence. 

Much like her protagonist, the talented and tenacious Shauna Brand seems to show up everywhere, ready to roll up her sleeves and get busy. If you’re looking for family-friendly fun with flair, get a clue and grab a seat for The Advantageous Adventures of Mrs. Meddlesome: Curse of the Tomb this weekend. 

Read more on Salt Lake Fringe Festival:
The Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival @ The Fringe Factory and Dumke Black Box
Utah Women Make Their Voices Heard in Monologues From A Movement