The Little Theatre Group (LTG), Costa Rica’s premier English-language community theater troupe, is celebrating Halloween Oct. 29 to 31 with some chiller-thriller, hair-raising performances in “Bedtime Stories … When Death Calls,” a trio of frightfully entertaining plays.
“Sorry, Wrong Number,” by Lucille Fletcher, was first presented in 1943 as a Suspense” radio play starring Agnes Moorhead as a wealthy, bedridden woman who accidentally overhears a telephone conversation between two men plotting to kill someone. The 1948 film noir version earned Barbara Stanwyck an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. The LTG’s version will be the original radio play, directed by Ann Antkiw and starring veteran actress Susan Hall Liang, as well as Joseph Loveday, Ron Boston, Pilar Saavedra-Vela, Margie Davis, Paula Friedman, Andrew Loveday, Arnie Harrison, Harry Liang and Hannia Loveday.
“An old woman living in a nightmare …” is how Rod Sterling’s baritone voice began his introduction of “Nothing in the Dark,” a 1962 episode of the long-running television program “The Twilight Zone.” This particular segment starred a young and handsome Robert Redford. The LTG’s Vicky Longland directs Ann Antkiw, Arnie Harrison and Wayne Dawson as they learn about what lurks in the dark in this moving, twisted tale. The third play, “Death Knocks,” is Woody Allen’s 1968 The New Yorker magazine parody of “The Seventh Seal,” a film by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. Lisa DeFuso directs Tom Humes and Dave Nisson in this play in which Death tries his luck at gin rummy.
The spooky trio of plays will be performed Oct. 29 and 30 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 31 at 2:30 p.m. at San José’s Laurence Olivier Theater at Avenida 2, Calle 28, next to Sala Garbo. For the Oct. 30 performance, attendees are invited to bring a boca to share and don their most ghoulish costumes. Prizes will be awarded for the best getup. For reservations and information, call 8858-1446 or visit www.littletheatregroup.org.
“Bedtime Stories … When Death Calls” will also be presented today and tomorrow in HermosaHeights, on the northern Pacific coast. For information on this event, contact Rich Levy at levygrin@yahoo.com.
Educators and parents are invited to visit the LTG Web site’s education project blog, where they will find script segments as well as play summaries to enhance the teaching of English as a second language. This is a continuous project of the LTG as a community service and outreach program. For more information, contact Steve Harrington at publtg@gmail.com.
–Pilar Saavedra-Vela
