GREENEVILLE – An event that enthused the community and celebrated Halloween in a fun and different manner a year ago will return to the Doak House Museum on the Tusculum University grounds for two nights.
Zach Gass, right, and Elizabeth Wilson rehearse a scene in “Where Do We Go?”
Theatre-at-Tusculum will present “Edgar Allan Poe and Other Haunted Stories in the Woods” Friday, Oct. 27, and Saturday, Oct. 28. The event will feature five plays lasting about 10 minutes each with casts of two to five that will enhance the community’s and Tusculum family’s enjoyment of the weekend leading to Halloween.
“We greatly enjoyed entertaining our guests when we launched this event a year ago and were thrilled that the community embraced it,” said Steve Schultz, director of Tusculum Arts Outreach. “We are back with high-caliber casts and directors and encourage everyone to participate in another wonderful night of plays in the outdoors.”
“Edgar Allan Poe and Other Haunted Stories in the Woods” will include two plays written by Poe that are back from the 2022 event – “The Raven,” directed by Lavender Colmer, a senior homeschool student, and “The Tell-Tale Heart,” directed by Theater-at-Tusculum veteran Dodger Kirkland.
The three other plays are:
- “Missing,” written by Steve Schultz and directed by Andy Ross, a multi-dimensional participant in Tusculum productions
- “Where Do We Go?,” written by Sam Schultz, Steve Schultz’s teenage son and a frequent participant in local and Tusculum theater programs, and directed by Faith Rader, who also holds a diverse Tusculum theater portfolio
- “The Bell Witch,” written and directed by Laura Dupler, another person with an extensive résumé on the Tusculum stage
The gates open at 5:45 p.m. the day of each show, and the plays will commence at 6:30 p.m. The plays run every 20 minutes in different sections of the Doak House property, and that gives guests an opportunity to mingle and purchase food and soft drinks between each performance. Guides in character will answer questions and direct people where they need to go.
Left to right, Elizabeth Wilson, Isabella Paysinger, Gracie Moore and Gary Carver rehearse a scene in “Where Do We Go?”
Tusculum student organizations will sell the concessions. The event serves as a fundraiser for those groups and the Tusculum theater program.
“You will not find a whole lot of fun, lighthearted events for Halloween that have an entertainment component,” Schultz said. “We are pleased to fill that niche and provide five excellent family-friendly plays in a fantastic historic setting. It’s part of the comprehensive programming available from Tusculum. We look forward to seeing our friends from the community and the Tusculum family there.”
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at https://our.show/hauntedstoriesinthewoods or at the Doak House the nights of the event. Rain dates are Sunday, Oct. 29, and Monday, Oct. 30.
More information about arts programming is available at https://arts.tusculum.edu/. To learn more about the university, please visit www.tusculum.edu.