WEB EXCLUSIVE

The Woman in Black will darken the stage in just over a week as the drama department raises the curtain on this thriller.

Drama teacher Tim Carter said that the play, which runs Halloween weekend, is going to be a very scary show.

“It goes way beyond just Halloween spooky, it’s terrifying,” Carter said. “It’s supernatural; she appears and reappears, and she will show up.”

This play centers around Mr. Kipps, who just settled an estate on an island, where he experiences the visitations of the Woman in Black. The woman seeks revenge on the island for the terrible carriage accident that left her and her newborn baby dead.

As a way of exorcising the woman from his thoughts, Mr. Kipps hires an actor to reenact the experiences he had with the woman, which creates a play-within-a-play scenario.

To bring the terror to life, the cast and crew must perfect every aspect of the performance

Senior Daniel Butterfield, who is playing Mr. Kipps, said that the show is moving along great, and that there are just some minor things to work on.

“The play is looking very good so far,” Butterfield said. “We have already finished blocking everything, and once we get all the lighting and sound worked together the play will be finished.”

This play is unlike any other production that Carter has ever worked on before.

“The hardest part about this play is the lighting and the special effects: there is a lot of work to be done,” Carter said. “It is probably the most technology-heavy production we have ever done.”

The lights and the effects have a very big impact on the play itself, as the crew uses them to create stunning and thrilling visuals for the crowd.

This play also presents a different type of cast structure.

Senior Alex Petty, who plays The Actor, states that this play is different from the productions he previously has starred in, such as Dracula and The Chronicles of Narnia.

“There are only two people who have major lines, and also it is like a play-within-a-play,” Petty said. “There are parts where there are just two people talking about doing a play, and then the actual play itself. It is very intense, and the concept works very well with the play.”

Who the Woman in Black is portrayed by in the play still remains a mystery, but this unanswered question adds suspense to the play.

When compared to Dracula, which played Oct. 2015, Carter says that The Woman in Black is far scarier.

“Dracula was a Halloween show which was sort of scary–this play is terrifying,” Carter said. “It is one of those plays that if you get scared really easily, don’t sit in the front.”