Shadow Ridge performers set to stage ‘The Woman in Black’

Sometimes the most frightening stories are those with minimal effects that leave the rest up to the imagination.

With the use of simplistic props and armed with three actors, Shadow Ridge High School, 5050 Brent Lane, is set to transform its stage into an eerie Victorian town for the set of "The Woman in Black," planned at 6 p.m. Oct. 28 and 29 and Nov. 6 and 7.

"This is like nothing I've ever directed before," said director Jimmy Carosone. "Audience members will be sitting on the stage close enough to the actors that they'll be able to reach out and touch them. We want them to experience the same thing that actors are experiencing in real time."

Kirk Trevino, 18, Porter Smith, 17, and Ricky Hernandez, 16, will set the tone for the old-fashioned ghost story just in time for Halloween.

The play, adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from the short story by Susan Hill, centers on Arthur Kipps, a middle-aged solicitor with a ghastly secret.

Kipps hires a theater and the services of a professional actor to help him re-enact a ghostly event with the hope of finding closure.

From the cluttered stage, Kipps begins to read his story in a painful and self-conscious manner. He soon grows confident, and the play changes from narration to enactment.

The audience learns that young Kipps was sent north by his London firm to settle the estate of an elderly recluse — the late Mrs. Drablow. It is in her isolated marshland house where Kipps encounters the Woman in Black.

Seeking vengeance for the death of her young child, the Woman in Black attaches herself to Kipps and unleashes a macabre sequence of events, which culminates in a chilling twist during the play's final moments.

"The play is intriguing from the very beginning," said assistant director Autumn Pearson, 17. "No two scenes are the same, and it focuses on character building."

The audience members will have a theater-in-the-round experience, meaning they will be surrounding the stage, to allow for stronger and more direct engagement.

"Since it's really minimalistic, sound and lighting play a more important role in the play," said Jordan Dube, 17, stage manager and technical director. "The intimate space will make certain moments more impactful. This is not the gory kind of scary; it's the suspenseful and intense kind."

"The sound is practically a character in the show," Carsone added.

The play is set to last two hours with an intermission. Tickets for all shows are $7 and can be purchased at the door or at showtix4u.com.

Carsone encourages people to buy their tickets early because seating will be limited.

"It's not just a dark and twisted show; it's an experience," he said.

— To reach North View reporter Sandy Lopez, email slopez@viewnews.com or call 702-383-4686. Find her on Twitter: @JournalismSandy.