In what?s billed as an event certain to frighten and amuse, the Allen Community College?s Drama Department is taking a swing ? five, to be precise ? at the cleverly macabre.
The curtain lifts for a series of student-directed one-act plays Thursday at the ACC Theatre for its three-night run.
Allen students Austin Wickwire, Judd Wiltse and Paige and Padyne Durand, and 2018 Allen graduate Chloe Bedell man their respective director?s chairs for each of the stories, all penned by another ACC alum, Nic Olson.
Wickwire, a Garnett native, will present ?Post-Maniac Victim Syndrome,? which looks at what would happen if the survivors of various 80s-themed slasher movies all banded together for a group therapy session.
Iola native Judd Wiltse takes on the ?Ghost Hunters? mania with ?REAL GHOST FOOTAGE ? CAUGHT ON CAMERA ? 100% GENUINE.?
?Make sure you get that in all caps,? Wiltse notes.
As the name implies, ?REAL? follows the host of an obnoxious ?ghost adventure?-style show who takes a team of investigators into an abandoned hospital in search of evidence of paranormal activity.
Do they find it?
?Who knows?? Wiltse replies with a sly grin.
Paige Durand will oversee ?Bob of the Dead,? a story about three survivors of a zombie apocalypse, and three zombies still on a quest to catch them ? and it?s told from both sides? points of view.
Padyne Durand helms ?The Game of Romance,? a game show in which a bachelorette, fresh from a painful breakup, attempts to find a new suitor.
?It examines the extent of what someone will do for love, but in a twisted way,? Padyne explains, ?I just don?t want to give up too much.?
Bedell?s production, ?Camp Miskatonic,? is essentially how most summer campers remember their experience.
?It?s either, you have fun, or else,? Bedell laughs. ?The ?or else? is the fun surprise.?
The authors sat down for a discussion with Olson and a Register reporter. (Side note: Olson, who lives in Piqua and manages Iola?s Sterling Six Cinema, is this reporter?s son-in-law.)
