Cahoots comes to the Pocahontas Opera House May 16th and 17th
Allegheny Mountain Radio’s Mary Moore McLaughlin recently caught up with a crew hard at work constructing sets for the upcoming play Cahoots, at the Pocahontas Opera House in Marlinton. She said according to Margaret Baker, putting a stage set together is a little bit like a barn raising.
On Saturday, May 10th, there was much activity at the Opera House in Marlinton. At least 10 volunteers were setting up for Cahoots, Margaret Baker’s latest play put on the Pocahontas County drama workshop; it was quite the community effort. Some like Jane Hubbard and Susan Chapel have been swinging hammers at the Opera House for years. I asked Neal Krakover how long he had been working with the Opera House.
“Oh, since 1991,” said Hise. “And it seems like it goes up with great team effort and then for 2 days and a dress rehearsal, it gets all kinds of onlookers and the show wouldn’t be the same without it, but it disappears into the vapors.”
And some newcomers like Devon Preston, bring with them all kinds of experience.
[Mary Moore] “I’ve always thought of you as a dancer or an actor, but you do carpentry as well.”
“Absolutely,” he said, “I spent several years building sets in Seattle, Florida and also Greenbrier Valley Theater [is the] musical director for about 8 years. And I’m also the program coordinator for Trillium performing arts collective.”
I also spoke to Margaret Baker about Cahoots, the play itself.
“It’s a dark comedy,” said Baker. “Dark meaning that it involves a crime, and it sort of makes you wonder what it would take for an ordinary person who wasn’t a criminal to turn to a life of crime; but it’s hilarious in the meantime. [The set] is probably late 80’s, early 90’s , something like that, and we’re going to have some big hair and some fun 80’s kind of things in the play as well.”
“We have a young crew [of actors] this year. We have one veteran actor, Scott Triplett who’s done many plays with us and then we have a bunch of twenty-somethings who are new to the drama workshop but not necessarily new to acting. Andrew Lacasse grew up here and has quite a bit of theater experience. Diana Clark who is not from here originally but she’s here now with High Rocks, she’s got a theatrical past, and then we have Lisa Burns who teaches English and Language Arts at the middle school, and Dan Shultz, who is here with the Traveling 219 project.”
The Pocahontas County Drama Workshop presents Cahoots, a comedy of crime, conspiracy and cover-up, Friday May 16 and Saturday May 17 at 8:00pm at the Opera House in Marlinton. Tickets are $8.00 at the door and parents should be aware that the play contains adult themes and may not be suitable for young children.
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