Belleville West Little Theatre is prepared to open the 2023-2024 school year with their fall play, “A Monster Calls.”
“‘A Monster Calls’ is a story of a young boy coping with the idea of his mother dying. At 12:07 he is visited by a monster who tells him stories that guide him through his pain and prepare him for the end of the tale,” Student Director Natalie Hall said.
Several years ago, Belleville West had a school-wide read of Patrick Ness’s novel which influenced Mr. Lodle’s show selection.
“When I discovered last summer that the novel had been adapted for the stage, I was really excited about the possibility of staging it at West. We are one of the first non-professional theater groups in the country to produce the play, so this has been an amazing opportunity,” Director Mr. Lodle said.
Actors are prepared to take on new roles for the show, and create their show.
“Getting to work with this specific cast is really awesome because there are so many really talented and incredible people who are doing this show,” junior Theo Rickert said.
With ‘A Monster Calls’ being the first of five yearly shows for Little Theatre, a new freshman class is introduced to the program.
“I have been waiting a few years, and been so excited. Comparing it to my middle school theatre this is so much cooler.” freshmen Abby Bagby said.
While the cast prepares onstage, the fall play technical crew grows accustomed to their new lighting system.
“We have a new lighting system and it is LED so we can change the colors to any color in the rainbow. We can move the lights anywhere on the stage, and we can even move them during the show because we don’t have to move them manually anymore,” Student Technical Director Quin Brown said.
Doors open for “A Monster Calls” on October 12-14th at 6:30 PM. Tickets are available at the in-person box office, or online at the link in the @bwtheatre social media pages! Prices are $7 per student and $10 per adult.
