Wednesday, July 20, 2011

A "Ghostly" Production





Last week, I attended one of the most unique theatrical productions of my life. 

It was a nicely written historical show, performed by a theater company in a small city in Western Massachusetts.  The "stage" was a local, historical  cemetery.

Characters, all dressed in old-fashioned white costumes, depictin "real" people who helped settle the city, all of whom are buried in the cemetery.




It brought the historical figures back to "life."  There were no chairs in rows for the audience in this theater production. Uh uh.  Instead, the group of theater-goers followed the first white-clad figure into the cemetery.  All the action took place near the graves of those who had been laid to rest.

There were some unique stories told during the course of the play and one got to learn a lot about the settling of the town. Fascinating stuff!

The whole thing was done respectfully and tastefully, with even a touch of humor thrown in for good measure.   It was a totally new way to get a really fine history lesson. 



In addition, since there was a lot of walking, it felt good to go to a play and get exercise at the same time.




Admittedly, after the play ended,  it was not hard to beat it fast out of the cemetery and head for home. Even though  no curtain to came down, there was no way was I about to stay there once darkness settled.


HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF A PLAY BEING PERFORMED IN A CEMETERY?

8 comments:

diane stetson said...

Never...this was quite a unique experience to say the least...glad you had fun!

Ocean Breezes and Country Sneezes said...

Wow! How amazing was that. My husband and I walk in a "garden" style cemetery and have discussed and have imagined the souls coming back and walking around in the fashions from the 1800 to current day.

Tammy@T's Daily Treasures said...

That's a new one to me. Very unique indeed. When I was young and the family would gather at my Mammaw's house for holidays, all the cousins would get together and walk through the old cemetery down the street. It was so interesting to read the headstones and figure out how long someone had lived. We were always sad about the babies, and happy when someone lived a very long life, but wondered about those who died young. Not sure I would want to be there after night either. :/ Have a wonderful Wednesday. Tammy

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...

How fun! I love cemeteries and this one has fantastic headstones. History comes to 'Life' in this production!

Rebecca said...

VERY interesting, Susan!

When we were in Buffalo we noticed that one HUGE cemetery was open for Sunday tours. We didn't have time to look into it, but by the size of the stones, we bet there were probably some pretty famous people buried there. I could see this happening there!

Victorian1885 said...

I would have loved that! Thanks for sharing your experience..

Wanda

La Tea Dah said...

How interesting! Actually, the concept is very good and creates a great scene for a history lesson. But --- I wouldn't stick around after dark either! I bet you won't forget the local history now though, will you!

Chatty Crone said...

No I have never heard of a play being held at a cemetery - how interesting, but I'd get out of there before dark too.

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