Font ResizeWEST BRATTLEBORO -- For those inclined for a scare in the woods, Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center is putting on their annual "Forest of Mystery" on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 26 and 27, on the torch-lit trail of Heifer Hill. This year, actors and actresses will be performing Michael Nethercott's play, "Into the Otherworld."
"The audience can look forward to crime, mystery, and encounters with strange and wonderful characters, and as always, a bonfire and a dramatic finale," said Patti Smith, one of the performers and naturalists at the education center. "And we hope there will be moonlight."
The center is located at 1221 Bonnyvale Road in Brattleboro. Each performance is an hour long and begins every 15 minutes between 6:15 and 8:30 p.m. The forest trails will be lit by a mixture of candle light and bonfire. 30 actors and musicians will be on site, delivering "Into the Otherworld."
"The Forest of Mystery" has been a tradition of the Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center calendar for about 17 years, said Smith. The plays are a theatrical way to celebrate Halloween and bring people together in the outdoors and closer to their community.
Smith hopes people who enjoy the haunted play will come back during the day-time to hike the trails on Heifer Hill. The Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center also hosts workshops all year that deal with art, nature and other relevant topics. Goals of the center include informing visitors
Michael Nethercott, who has directed plays for the center in its beginning, is back to present "Into the Otherworld". The performance is based on Welsh mythology and is an interactive mystery that will attempt to scare its audience. Typically, the performance is a noble quest as well as a struggle between good and evil, that includes the audience as the plot thickens.
"It's a transformative experience," said Smith, about this year's play. "It really feels like entering another world."
Nethercott's works and writing have been featured in magazines and anthologies such as Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and the Drama Magazine for Young People. He has won several awards like the Black Orchid Novella Award, the Nor-Easter Play Writing Contest and the Vermont Playwrights Award. Nethercott's newest novel, "Summoning the Dead", will be published next spring by St. Martin's Press.
For reservations, call 802-257-5785. Tickets for members are $10 for adults, $6 for children. Non-members' tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for children. Performances not recommended for children under six. For more information, visit www.beec.org.
Chris Mays can be reached at 802-254-2311, ext. 273, or cmays@reformer.com
