WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., Oct. 18, 2016 — Kelly Theatre will get spooky this October as the Hilltop Players present a new production Poe: Master of the Macabre. The play opens at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 20.
“This play is not standard storytelling. It is a modern piece that takes modern liberties. Most of the set is suggested and audiences are going to have to use their imaginations to fill in the gaps,” said director Michael Aulick, who is theatre director at WLU.
“It is a great piece for actor training. Each actor plays multiple characters and they have to change those roles on an instant. I have wanted to do it for several years,” he added.
The production will have two casts – the Edgar cast and the Allan cast which gives more students an opportunity to get involved.
The Edgar Cast includes Jedediah Shook, Callie Carroll, Brady Dunn, Carly Balog, Daniel White, Maria Matsakis, Kobe Wade.
The Allan Cast includes Zac Morris, Alex Burdick, Alex Franke, Amanda Tamplen, Alex Gordon, Sarah Lemley, Grant VanCamp.
Poe: Master of the Macabre is a theatrical adaptation by John Hardy of three works of Edgar Allan Poe:
- WILLIAM WILSON, the life of an evil young man who rules those around him with an iron fist. He is foiled by the appearance of another, who shares his name and countenance. Hounded by this alter ego until he is driven to murder, when he kills his look-alike he finds that he has killed himself.
- THE TELLTALE HEART, reveals a servant who believes he is stalked by the pale, blue eye of his master. Driven to near insanity, he attempts to relieve his torment by taking the life of his innocent master. After the deed is done, the man finds that the master’s heart continues to beat beneath the floorboards where the body has been entombed. The police investigate and the increasing volume of the dead man’s heart drives the servant to confession.
- THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM tells the story of an imprisoned man who awakens to find himself in a totally dark jail cell. While exploring the cell, he trips and falls and finds a deep pit in the center. He realizes that had he not tripped, he would have fallen to his death. The next day, the narrator discovers that the prison is slightly more illuminated and that he is strapped to a wooden frame on his back, facing the ceiling. Above him is a razor-sharp pendulum measuring “one-foot from horn to horn” suspended from the ceiling and it is swinging back and forth, and slowly descending. He narrowly escapes and the pendulum is withdrawn into the ceiling. However, then the walls become start to move inwards, forcing him slowly toward the center of the room and the pit.
The spooky production continues at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 21, 27, 28, 29 and at 3 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 30.
To purchase tickets call the WLU Ticket Office at 304.336.8277 or visit brownpapertickets.com.
For more information on the Theatre Department, please visit the College of Arts and Communication website or call 304-336-8006.
Editor’s Note: Media Relations Intern Natasha Muhametzyanova contributed to this release.