On Friday, October 22, the UTRGV Department of Theatre will debut “The Weird” by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.
The play will be performed in the Albert L. Jeffers theatre on the Edinburg campus and will be open to the public for free.
“The Weird” will be performed on October 22, 29 and 30 at 7:30 p.m. and on October 24 at 2:00 P.M. On October 23 there will be an ASL interpretation at 7:30 p.m.
This stage play is an anthology style collection of six horror comedy vignettes: “Bloody Mary”, “Insect Love”, “Rosemary’s Baby”, “Swamp Gothic”, “Morning becomes Alestra” and “Dinner With the Super Friends” all narrated by the comically named narrator, M.T. Grave.
According to the play’s director Peter Mikolasky, each of these vignettes is in some degree based on horror history, such as “Insect Love”, which is based on the film “The Fly” and “Bloody Mary” which is inspired by slashers like “Halloween” and “Scream”.
Junior Theater major Mateo Ramirez works off the stage as a costume designer and on the stage as M.T. Grave. He describes the message of the play as the fun of horror.
When asked about the overall message of the play, Ramirez said “ ‘Isn’t horror fun?’ I think that’s the message… it’s about kind of maybe waking up that little 12 year old kid in you that goes ‘oh my god I saw that movie and I freaked out.’”
Senior Multidisciplinary studies major Frida Aviles describes the play as something fun and different for audiences to enjoy.
“ I would say it’s very different from anything that has been done in the program before, I don’t think we’ve had an anthology play before, and all the scenes are very different: some are horror, some are comedy, some are romance so it’s just like a lot of variety, there’s something for everyone.
Mikolasky says the theatre will be limited to 50 percent occupancy with masks being “recommended but not required,” and feels that this play will be a great opportunity to celebrate Halloween while safely bringing audiences back to the theatre.
“Altogether I think it’s scary, I think it’s fun, I think people can come in and enjoy it and not worry about having to stay too long and hopefully have a really good time by the time they leave” Mikolasky said.
Mikolasky said those who are interested should arrive about 15 minutes early in order to secure a seat.
For more information on the play or its showings, visit the Department of Theatre’s website.
This is Will Bennett with Vaquero Radio.
