Too Many Zombies, Two Many Ghosts

Just in time for Halloween, Roberta Weiner’s two plays arrived on the scene to weave their web. In Too Many Zombies, which was a brand new, original production, conceived by Prana students, we saw a science classroom with teachers. There were witches, stirring up a brew, chanting from Macbeth.  There were fairy princesses, a girl dressed like Wednesday from the Addams family, and a boy dressed like Pugsley. We saw Dorothy, a tin man, a cowardly lion and perhaps a scarecrow. They were drinking a potion that clearly was not a delicious beverage. The teachers didn’t seem to realize the danger. Than along came two DARE officers, who delivered a speech on staying away from dangerous drugs, and drinks, and then they too, were convinced to drink the horrible concoction, for a comic conclusion.

In Too Many Ghosts, the plot revolved around a suspiciously haunted house. The ghosts, played convincingly by Samantha Reid as a teenager, Iris Smith as the creepy poltergeist, Graham Lemieux as Roland, Violet Guernon as both the maid and the banshee, and Lexi Chick as Cassandra, the silent movie star, do not want to be moved out of their house. Along come new owners, Rosie Foley as the mother, and Scarlett Hemming as her daughter Lily. They wish to turn this beautiful old, mysterious house into a bed and breakfast. There is an evil hotel owner, Connor Frey, and a mysterious handyman, Ernie, played by Alex Thomas. Many guests are booked in to the B&B, but are just as quickly driven out. Once three Ghostbusters, played by Winslow Friend, Aisling Ross and Elsa Whitman come complete with real mechanical vacuum devices in their suitcases to destroy the ghosts, things get interesting. All is resolved, including a long, lost fiancé.

Then the entire cast, in dazzling costumes, wrap up their seasonal fright stories by breaking out in a dance to everyone’s favorite Halloween tune, the Monster Mash. This cast, from kindergarten through teenagers, with Joe Duda as assistant director, and an amazing creative team making props and scenery, showed what dozens and dozens of thespians of this age can accomplish. That skeleton was quite convincing too.