Strasburg students to present 'Scariest Play — Ever!'
The show is directed by Strasburg English teacher Rachel Ripley, back right, in her seventh year of handling the school’s theater arts program.
“Scariest Play — Ever!" by Craig Sodaro, a riff on a collection of old horror movies, is the spring play at Strasburg High School this year. The show is set for Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14 with the curtain rising at 7 p.m. both nights.
The show is directed by Strasburg English teacher Rachel Ripley in her seventh year of handling the school’s theater arts program.
“We always do the play the week before spring break,” Ripley said. “I saw that that weekend fell on Friday the 13th and wanted to do a fun comedy show with a horror theme.”
The show, with a cast of two-dozen Strasburg students, is a collection of five shorter stories, each a parody of a well-known horror film. A further eight students make up the production crew.
“It’s about movie producer C.C. Bellows and his search for the next big blockbuster,” Ripley said.
Bellows hears the proposals of five different directors eager to get their projects green lighted for the big screen. The pitches are based on the films, “Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Paranormal Activity,” “The Exorcist,” “Friday the 13th” and “The Amityville Horror.”
They arrive on the Strasburg stage in “Scariest Play — Ever!” as parodied versions including “The Calamityville Horror,” in which a family moves into a house with a history that is haunted by circus animals.
“Paranormal Sensitivity” sees an eager young groom filming a bridal shower, eventually driving everyone away. A young girl is possessed by the spirit of Medusa, the snakes-for-hair lady, in “The Extortionist.”
In “Saturday the 14th,” the ghost of Jacob Voorbees, a dead hockey player, is the problem, and a group of kids must stay awake at a sleepover to ward off a ghostly choir director in “Nightmare on Oak Street.”
Ripley begins the process of planning for the spring play — the single show the department does each year — when school begins in September. “That’s when I choose the show,” she said. “Then auditions are held in November, and we start rehearsals soon after. It gives the kids time to learn lines and prepare.”
This is a necessity, Ripley said, due to the number of after-school activities most of her students are involved in throughout the year.
“I have kids in sports and band, choir, bridge club, anything you can think of. The students are very busy, so the long rehearsal schedule works well,” Ripley said.
February rehearsals have seen the cast move off book, meaning they have most of their lines committed to memory and will not refer to the script going forward.
When the chance to take over directing school plays came along seven years ago, Ripley was quick to take up the challenge. “We’ve done some heavier productions,” she said. “We did ‘Twelve Angry Jurors,’ ‘Great Gatsby’ and ‘Harvey.’ Then we kind of decided to lighten it up the last couple of years. ‘Scariest Play — Ever!’ has been a lot of fun to do and will be fun to see. They’re all comedy versions of the movie stories that are fun and appropriate for the whole family.”
Though Ripley hasn’t arrived at prospects for next year’s play, she is definitely looking forward to it. “I have loved doing this every year. The kids really do make it so easy and fun for everyone,” she said.
Strasburg High School is located at 140 N. Bodmer Ave. Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. each night, and tickets are available at the door.