The lights dim. The red curtain opens. Out walks Mrs. Roders, played by Lauren Marshall, Salina senior.

“There is so much to do and nowhere to start,” Marshall said to Mr. Roders, played by Lawrence Henderson, Lansing senior.

From left to right, actors Carter Waite, Courtney Schweitzer and Lawrence Henderson look over the dead body of Erik LaPointe during a dress rehearsal of "And Then There Were None" last Wednesday in the Crafton-Preyer Theatre. The show is part of Kansas Mystery Theatre, which runs along with the show "Something's Afoot" through July 23.

So much to do is exactly how the cast and crew of Kansas Mystery Theatre felt this past month as they prepared for the simultaneous productions of “And Then There Were None” and “Something’s Afoot.”

University Theatre artistic director John Staniunas opted for a change in this summer’s productions. Staniunas decided to create a repertory company — the same actors perform two dramas at the same time — and thought murder mysteries would provide entertainment for the summer.

“And Then There Were None,” originally “Ten Little Indians” by Agatha Christie, is a murder mystery that keeps the audience guessing which character is the murderer. “Something’s Afoot” is a satirical musical based on Agatha Christie’s mysteries. Both performances are at the Crafton-Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall, just north of Allen Fieldhouse.

Auditions for the summer cast started at the end of May, and 10 individuals were selected.

Those 10 people, along with crew, have put in six to nine hours every day rehearsing for the shows for the past months, according to John Gronbeck-Tedesco, director of “And Then There Were None.”

Many said they thought the process of learning two characters was simple, but time-consuming.

Gronbeck-Tedesco said the most difficult part wasn’t the memorization of each show, but the hard work put into it. The actors weren’t concerned, however. They were ready for the real thing.

“It’s getting old performing in that big open space with no one watching,” Laura Fleming, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, senior, said.

Marshall agreed.

“I always get opening night jitters,” she said. “But I think we’re ready.”

On the weekend of July 8, the theatre performed “And Then There Were None,” and beginning July 14 it will perform “Something’s Afoot.”

The challenging part comes July 18 through July 23, when the cast and crew will switch plays every other night, starting with “And Then There Were None.”

Acting as a repertory company gives experience to the students in performing more than one show at a time, something that most professional companies do during the summer.

“It’s really great training,” Gronbeck-Tedesco said. “It takes principles you learned and applies them to different stuff.” For example, different theatre styles.

Kelly Vogel, costume designer and Lawrence graduate student, said the worst part of designing costumes for two different shows was differentiating between the actors and the characters they play.

She summed up the last month in one repeated word: confusing.

Carter Royce Waite, Falmouth, Maine, senior, said he keeps his characters apart by the way he speaks. One character speaks nasally, while the other sounds more natural.

Because “And Then There Were None” is a play, it leaves room for error because accompaniment isn’t present, Waite said.

Going into the summer, Fleming thought the shows would be difficult to keep separate, but she found out she was wrong.

Her characters are contrasting and even though the shows are both mysteries, they are different in styles.

“Something’s Afoot,” directed by Staniunas, is a musical, so everything is choreographed.

Fleming said she enjoys the musical because the style of the script allows the actors to be ridiculous in ways they normally wouldn’t.

“I personally don’t go walking around singing how lovely the world is,” Fleming said.