Worked hard these past few weeks at getting a theatre event off the ground for Halloween this year. As it stands, the timescale is tight. Very tight. Provided that the script is ready and that I manage to get support from SMT on this thing, auditions and rehearsals have to start pretty much from the day kids are back in school.
But like I said, at this point in time there isn't even a full script ready.
Initially I had planned for a low-key affair of classic ghost and horror stories being read by the kids. This rapidly changed to 2 guided tours through the building, each following their own distinct route and stories, with the audience being swapped after the interval.
In the course of selecting material for the show, Frank (who has been helping me immensely) and I tested both the concept as such as well as the stories selected on Lee and Susan (our friends) who were shocked and suggested that if we stuck to the initial plan the school might be sued for "mentally scarring pupils for life".
A change had to be made. And it was a big one. We re-examined the stories, went back to other sources and have now come up with a more child friendly evening. There is going to be the framing narrative of the house sale which forms the backdrop to the evening's stories being told. There still are 2 tours, one to be lead by the housekeeper and former nanny, the other by the groundsman. We invented a story for them. Then, taking Dean Koontz story of The Black Pumpkin as inspiration we invented a narrative thread that linked all the previous occupants' fates with the Koontz story while adapting Lovecraft's Statement of Randolph Carter and some other folk tales/urban legends. All this happened during the evenings over at ZUM BAHNDAMM in Dortmund, where Frank and I spent a lovely few days.
Now, all that remains is to write the play (It's turning into a bit of an Albatross round my neck, how very Gothic) and then sort out the logistics.
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