Blaine Community Theater’s upcoming performance of “The Witches,” running from October 25 to November 3 at the Black Box Theater, is one of the only Halloween theater productions in Whatcom County and it promises to be thrilling.
It’s a humorous stage production of a classic Roald Dahl novel. A seven-year-old boy on vacation with his grandmother ends up at a hotel that’s hosting a secret annual meeting for a group of child-hating witches. Many know the story from a popular 1990 film adaptation with the same name.
The show is the closest thing the Blaine Community Theater will have to a 20-year anniversary performance, and a return to form for the group, which has always had success with Halloween shows.
The Blaine Community Theater went dormant for about eight years and started back up last year. Its first show after the hiatus, also a Halloween show, was “Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde.”
“That’s always kind of been our bread and butter,” said Mikael R. Kenoyer, director of “The Witches” and president of Blaine Community Theater. “Everybody loves a Halloween show. Aside from Rocky Horror at the Mount Baker Theater, we’re kind of the only theater that does a real Halloween show.”
The show is ambitious and technical for a small community theater, with elaborate sets with lights and fog, witches turning into mice, and actors playing multiple roles. Kenoyer said the group’s auditions got a larger turnout than recent shows, including some cast and crew members with experience from the Bellingham Arts Academy for Youth.
“We’ve been pretty fortunate as far as finding people for this show,” she said.
The show features Molly St. Martin as the unnamed “boy,” Erika Werdal as his grandmother and Dana Carrell as the grand high witch. Nick McDonald is the show’s technical director.
The majority of the cast and crew are from Blaine and Birch Bay. This show allows for more kids to participate than previous Blaine Community Theater shows, Kenoyer said, and that resulted in several cast and crewmembers bringing their family out to participate.
“We have more little family units involved than in any other production I’ve worked on,” Kenoyer said.
Blaine Community Theater had a hard time coming up with ideas for a Halloween show this year. The group’s leaders asked the community for ideas, and when someone suggested “The Witches,” it seemed like an obvious choice. The theater group even had a script in storage.
“It’s just a really fun show,” she said. “I think there’s a lot of nostalgia for this particular story.”
What: The Witches
When: 7 p.m. on October 25, 26 and November 1; 2 p.m. on October 27 and November 3.
Where: Blaine High School’s Black Box Theater, 1055 H St.
Cost: Adults $15, students and seniors $13.
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