The Lancaster Players are putting the final touches on the set for their fall show, Ken Ludwig’s “The Game’s Afoot; or Holmes for the Holidays.”
The play will be staged at 8 p.m. September 14, 15, 21, 22, 28 and 29 and 3 p.m. September 16 and 23. The theater will open an hour prior to each performance. Tickets are $25. For reservations, visit www.lancasterplayers.org, or call 435-3776.
“This show requires some complex design for the set and for the technical aspects,” said co-director Bob Walker. “We had special features to build into the set. There are dozens of sound cues that we had to record and set up in the system. And there are some key moments when the lighting also needs instantaneous changes during the play.”
Walker and Lancaster Players board president Luke Rawls head up the stage and tech crews. Joining them in building the set are Skip Tilley and Dick Allen.
“Making room on our tiny stage for walls, furniture and our eight cast members has been a challenge that we’ve enjoyed meeting,” said Walker.
The play is set on Christmas Eve, 1936, in the newly-built Gillette Castle, on the Connecticut River in Essex, Conn. So the set needs to have Art Deco elements. Marianne Ashhurst designed several essential visual elements and helped create them.
Bruce Hamilton and Luke Rawls are implementing the sound files for the production.
“We want to help the audience transport themselves to the evening during which the action of the play occurs,” said Mari Bonomi, co-director with Walker. “We want an atmosphere that is welcoming, yet offers opportunities for the mysterious occurrences and the many humorous moments as well. Watch the set—it moves!”
