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Into the Dark: Fall Performances Astound Audiences

Chatham Hall
As the fall season came to a close, the Chatham Hall community has had the chance to celebrate the arts while exploring the darker side of human nature with two outstanding performances.
Just in time for Halloween, the fall dance troupe choreographed a truly haunting interpretation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Featuring outstanding performances from both individuals and the troupe as a whole, the show pulled the audience deeper and deeper into the darkness of Dracula without ever needing the dancers to utter a word. Dance Instructor, Donna Franklin, reflected on the process of bringing the show together, saying, “In order to bring the story of Dracula to life, the girls worked on acting skill and character development along with dance technique. The result was a riveting performance that took the audience on a creepily entertaining journey. The dancers truly embodied the story’s characters and delivered an extraordinary performance!”

Following the theme of the dance performance–and with shows running November 8 and 9–this fall’s play is an all-female reinterpretation of Lord of the Flies. Director Gwen Couch knew she wanted the actors to explore the most primitive aspects of human nature, and saw the material as a rich challenge for the Chatham Hall stage. “Typically a story told from a male perspective, we wanted to consider how or whether the story changes when the stranded school children are all female,” she said, “ Are girls capable of the horrific behavior experienced on this island with no adult supervision? What does a power struggle between two girls trying to establish leadership feel like? Creating an all-female version of this male script took all of us on a journey we could never have anticipated!” While approaching their themes from different directions–supernatural versus humanistic–both performances offered an unyielding look at the darkness below the surface of human nature.
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800 Chatham Hall Circle  •  Chatham, VA 24531
+1 434.432.2941  •  admissions@chathamhall.org
Day and boarding school for girls grades 9-12 in the Episcopal tradition.

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