By Jamira Ellison

Patterson High School Clipper Productions hosted its annual fall play on November 15 and 16 at 7:00 PM. The play was called Shuddersome: Tales of Poe. Tickets were $2 for students and $5 for general admission.

The play was inspired by the works of the famous writer and Baltimore native, Edgar Allen Poe. At first some of the students were unfamiliar with Poe but they quickly gained interest when they learned more about Poe and his spooky stories.

“Production of the play was long, hard and rigorous.”, recounted lights operator, Kayla Cain. “At the start of the play everyone was like, ‘Edgar Allen Poe, who?’. And now the crew were definitely more interested in the play.” 

On opening night, the student performers were excited and a little bit nervous.

“I am just praying that I remember my lines and hoping that everyone else remembers their part.”, said actor Caleb. “I hope it goes well and I’ll do the best I can.” 

The first story was a very creepy story. The main character started greeting a girl every morning and being nice to her, but then quickly her thoughts shifted and she started to get thoughts of killing her. Eventually she actually did it. One night she killed the girl in her sleep. The next day the police showed up and arrested her and took her away.

The second story was a beautiful one but a creepy and nerve-racking one. It started off as a painter wanting to paint a girl because she was beautiful. But the artist was taking her soul and putting it into the portrait. Actors would dance around, grab little parts of her soul and return it to another painting with another girl being given life while the first girl was losing her life.

In another story, there was a village and nobody who lived there had a nose but one. He was praised for having a nose that no one else had and one day they took him to see the prince and the prince called him ugly and funny looking. When people found out what the prince had said, they stopped praising him. Everyone hated his nose after that. His own father was disappointed and turned him away.

In yet another story, there was a prince who locked his gates to escape from a very dangerous plague, but one day he decided to throw a masquerade ball. Each room in his house was decorated with a single color. He showed his guests around. The first room was blue, the second was purple, then green, orange, white, violet, and finally the last room was black with red windows and an ebony clock. When the clock struck midnight a new guest appeared with the face of a corpse. The guests were afraid but the prince was angry. They went into the other rooms but the strange guest found them. When they tried to get the prince to help, they realized he was dead and they all died a gruesome death.

In the post play interview the cast and crew said the play went about as well as they expected, with a few more mistakes that they would clean up for the next day’s show.

“[The] progression of the play was positive and attendance definitely improved as the play went on.”, floater Salem Garrett reflected. “I don’t know how the play will go [on the second night], but I know I’ll laugh a lot.”

Audience member and Patterson Press Editor Kylayah Davis said, “It was very funny, I didn’t really know what was going on but it seemed like they were having fun and I’m glad I came to support my friends.” 

All in all, the show was great, filled with laughs, occasional mistakes, and lots of fun. The cast and crew are already looking forward to the next Clipper Production, which is scheduled to take place in the Spring of 2024.