This weekend, the lights will be off in the Vivian Davis Michael Theatre in the West Virginia University Creative Arts Center, but the action will be in full swing.

A student laboratory theater production, “The Short, Dark, Scottish Play at Night,” an hour-long abridged version of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” will be performed on October 12, 13 and 14 in the Vivian Davis Michael Theatre at 8 p.m.

Embracing the spookiness of the Halloween season, student director Jack Roberts felt that the dark would be the most appropriate environment for the bloody tale of ambition and murder that he was leading.

Rather than using traditional stage lighting, student actors will be lighting the stage with flashlights to create a unique ambiance.

“The play is a classic, but the production itself is definitely unique due to the nontraditional casting,” explained junior theater student Nora Perone, who will be playing Lady Macduff.

Each actor will be playing multiple roles, with almost all of the roles shared between more than one actor.

To Roberts, this unusual play has been a special labor of love since the production began in August.

Since it is an entirely student-run production, the students played a pivotal part in the play’s development as they each fill so many roles, he said.

The Vivian Davis Michael Theatre is located in the lower level of the Creative Arts Center, at the opposite end from the Clay Theatre.

Admission to the play is free, but seating is limited.

For more information on the play, contact Theatre Professor Jenna Cole at jenna.cole@mail.wvu.edu.

-WVU-

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu

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