Were you always the first person to raise your hand in elementary school? Are you always the first volunteer for the party-planning committee at work? Do you head up your church's yearly bake sale? Then you're a participator (a joiner, perhaps?), and you'll love the heck out of Shear Madness.

Our headline above is perhaps a little overly enthusiastic, but there is good reason why Shear Madness has been running for over 25 years and nearly 12,000 shows. Those are pretty staggering numbers for a lighthearted murder mystery (who knew there could be such a thing?) that features plenty of audience interaction. It's a great show to see with the 'rents or even some kids you've been tasked to entertain for an evening (or even your own kids, if you have some). As noted, the show has been running forever, but the writers must refresh it on a regular basis; there were relatively current jokes about Britney Spears, Rachael Ray, and Paris Hilton. The actors also tossed in local references, dissing Malden and mentioning the Celts' win.

The more of a participator you are, the more you'll enjoy the show. It starts out in a hair salon, where a man is getting shaved, a woman's getting her hair set (who does that anymore?), and another man is waiting for his turn in the chair. The salon's upstairs neighbor starts playing the piano loudly. After trying various methods to silence her, the shop owner runs upstairs in a rage to tell her to quiet down. The patrons and other hairdresser all get a move on, leaving the shop for various reasons over the next few minutes. Then it's revealed that the upstairs neighbor has been murdered--and any of the shop employees or patrons could have done it!

Then it's time for the audience participation! Yay! Turns out the guy getting shaved was actually a policeman, and the entire building was being staked out by the cops due to suspected blackmail (just one of many farfetched plot points--but this play is much more about puns than plot). The officer asks the audience to help him reconstruct the events leading up to the murder. The actors take the lead in the reconstruction, but audience members call out corrections and help add detail. This Bostonist apparently has a terrible memory, as she was no real help in the reconstruction, but other eager beavers pulled through. Following the reconstruction, audience members get to ask questions of the actors, then vote on "whodunit"--or rather, who they think done it.

The cast was very good, and engaged the audience well. This show is perhaps not as well known as the Blue Man Group next door, but it's still a fine stop when you've got visitors in town.