On Friday 19th and Saturday 20th May the Oundle School First and Second Form (Years 7 and 8) production of Scary Play by Judith Johnson was staged in the Stahl Theatre.
This highly entertaining play is about a group of ten year olds at a sleepover birthday party who on a dare decide to sneak into a deserted and supposedly haunted house down the road. Inside the house they are captured by an evil man and his pet monkey, who proceed to bring to life all of their worst fears: clowns, vampires and dentists among others!
The children eventually escape, and with a clever twist in the end, the audience are left wondering whether they imagined all the events in the house. The play was by turns hilarious and scary, with the audience alternating between laughs and gasps. The larger than life characters were skilfully brought to life by the young cast, with standout performances from Charlie Cobb (13) as birthday boy Kal, Edward Cubitt (13) as his hyperactive sidekick, 
Mal, and Imogen Oakey (12) as the annoying younger sister, Lou.
Seth Stephenson (13) was suitably sinister and creepy as The Man, with Kim Fung (13) as a convincing monkey in full monkey suit.
Director and English teacher, Andrew Martens commented, “The whole cast combined well in a spirited and energetic ensemble performance. The atmospherically lit set and creepy sound effects and music helped build the suspenseful mood. There were some impressive special effects, most notable of which was a twelve foot tall giant clown, which ate one of the children, and full size zombie puppet, brilliantly designed by the Stahl’s Theatre Technician, Paul Laughton.”