A
Halloween dose of Victorian suspense
By
Stephanie Warmink
Special to the Northern Light
One
of Alaska's top-10 arts organizations will be
holding audiences in suspense at the Wendy
Williamson Auditorium this week through
Halloween. The Alaska Theatre of Youth will be
presenting “The Monkey's Paw and Other
Tales.”
These
Victorian suspense stories are less in your face
and more spine chilling, said Shane LeVesque,
executive director of the organization.
The
play, which features three different stories, is
set with a group of friends gathered at the ruins
of an old mansion for their annual Halloween
storytelling contest. The host of the contest is
an odd old woman, attended by a crabby nurse. As
the story telling begins, the stories come to
life on stage.
The
first tale, “The Monkey's Paw,” is
about a Victorian family of three people who are
presented with a shriveled old monkey's paw by a
soldier returning from India. He warned the
family that the monkey's paw would grant their
wishes, but in a way that would bring misery.
The
skeptical father, not heeding the warning,
jokingly wished for 200 pounds of British
currency.
The
following day, their son was killed in an
accident at the factory where he worked. The
factory owners paid the family compensation of
200 pounds.
Despite
the obvious bad omen, the family makes their two
remaining wishes. The wihes are carried out with
increasing macabre.
The
next two stories, “The Yellow
Wallpaper,” and “The Phantom
Signalman,” are increasingly eerie.
To
add to the growing uneasiness, the competing
partygoers discover something horrible. Two
people are dead.
Performances
will take place on weekends at 7 p.m. Oct. 26- 27
at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. On
Halloween night, Oct. 31, performances will begin
at 6 p.m., another at 8 p.m. and the last show
will begin at 10 p.m.
Admission
is $6. The performances are recommended for ages
10 and older. Proceeds go to scholarships and the
Alaska Theatre of Youth.
The
group performs at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium
as part of the Theatre in Your Schools program in
cooperation with the university.
For
more information, call 338-4901.
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