Eerie and eccentric
"It Was a Dark and Stormy Night," Naperville Central High School's fall play, takes a big bowl of eerie and spices it with laughs.
The show, which continues tonight and Saturday, is set in an old New England inn inhabited by strange people doing odd things.
There are unidentifiable sounds, scary sightings and, oh, yes, people who enter but never exit. They just sort of disappear.
"It's a spoof, or a cross between 'Psycho' and 'Arsenic and Old Lace,' " said faculty adviser Tom Ulbrich, the show's director.
Ulbrich said there's no deep message or moral to the story.
"It's just a lot of fun," he said.
Ulbrich said he was looking for a lighthearted romp to stage before Central students tackle the heavy thematic elements in the spring production, "The Diary of Anne Frank."
Playwright Tim Kelly's "Dark and Stormy Night" script calls for a cast of 12 and a set that summons up a Gothic mansion.
Junior Sarah Zavoral plays Arabella Saltmarsh, one of the inn's residents.
"She's completely off the deep end. She's not very smart. She's completely insane," Zavoral said of her character.
Several of the show's other characters are extremely eccentric as well, making for a wealth of comedic possibilities, she said.
The toughest part of portraying Arabella, Zavoral said, is playing so much older than her own age. Arabella's somewhere between 65 and 75.
She rose to the challenge by following Ulbrich's instructions on getting into character.
"His best advice was just to let your mind go wherever it wants to go," she said.
The show's student assistant director is junior Amy Kotowski.
"We're kind of making it creepy but funny at the same time," said Kotowski, adding that the actors' interpretations of their characters go a long way toward setting just the right tone.
Kotowski is making her directorial debut with "Dark and Stormy Night," but she's not a newcomer to the theater. She recently played a murder suspect in Central's, "You Have the Right to Remain Dead."
Directing a show offers a broader view of the production's genesis, she said.
"You get to see the whole picture," she said, "instead of just the parts you're in."
If you go
What: "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night," staged by Naperville Central
When: 8 p.m. today and Saturday
Where: Naperville Central High School auditorium, 440 W. Aurora Ave., Naperville
Tickets: $5
Info: (630) 420-3885 or www.ncusd203.org/central
Central's cast
Hepzibah Saltmarsh: Danielle Spence
Arabella Saltmarsh: Sarah Zavoral
Olive: Ellen Hoffman (Understudy: Katie Carpenter)
Ebenezer Saltmarsh: Ben MacRae
Jane Adams: Amy Jacobs (Patricia Zentner)
Mary Shaw: Lauren Hughes (Lindsey March)
Snell: David Tarsha (Daniel Crowley)
Ed Perkins: Jeff Gordon (Johnny Ludlam)
Dorothy Blake: Natalie Mueller (Ashley Lamb)
Belle Malibu: Kelsey Herbert (Becca Wilson)
Dawson: Cameron Petti (Steve Ullestad)
Uncle Silas: Jeff Schatz
Smiling Sam: Ryan Prinz (Ismail Umer)
Euphemia Porter: Monica De Iorio (Carolyn Foote)
Production staff
Director: Tom Ulbrich
Technical director: Nick France
Student assistant director: Amy Kotowski
Student producer: Miranda Dashut
Stage manager: Alex Riordan
Assistant stage manager: Ellen Banach
Master carpenter: Lucy Sinogeikina
Light designer: Kobus Labuschagne
Sound designer: Jeff Mayer
Prop masters: Matt Mitchell and Charlie Huth
Costume heads: Tolu Taiwo and Ryan Prinz
Makeup head: Lauren Reyes
Publicity directors: Shannon March, Sarah Lipski and Lindsey March
House managers: Lauren Ruvola and Katie Carpenter
Photographer: David Tarsha