What are the best known ‘hallmarks of horror?’
Find out Thursday, May 4 and Friday, May 5 during the laugh-out-loud production of Peter Bloedel’s ‘The Hallmarks of Horror,’ a comedy presented by Delhi District Secondary School’s new drama club.
“They are going to remember how funny it was,” said Grade 9 student Julia Gatti. “In my opinion it’s really, really funny.”
“It’s a comedy, absolutely,” said DDSS drama teacher Jenna Thompson. “It’s a one act play that spoofs the common horror tropes such as… ‘the car that doesn’t start.’”
“Things that loom in the dark,” said Grade 10 student Hannah Zehr. “And ‘let’s split up.’”
“The ‘hit-drop-and-run when being chased by a serial killer,’” said Gatti.
“The comedy is so memorable,” said Zehr.
The target audience is pre-teens (11-13) and teenagers (14-18) and anyone who loves comedies. There are no ‘jump scares,’ but there are some characters recognizable from scary movies… and yes, maybe a joke or two about masks and clowns.
They are relatable jokes, said Thompson.
“We start and end with the nuclear family – it’s like the perfect family,” said Gatti. “Nothing goes wrong…until the end.”
“You see the perfect family at the beginning in a 1950s-type family home, and then we go through all of the horror tropes, and then we inflict those tropes on the family at the end,” said Thompson.
The 35-40 minute production includes sound effects, videos and lighting and music.
“Most of our music is live,” said Thompson. “We have two narrators that guide the show, and one of them plays the keyboard live – he’s very talented.”
There is also a fog machine.
“We have fun with the tech… some of the tech makes it funny,” said Thompson.
“Sometimes they malfunction,” nodded Zehr who struggles in a scene with a flashlight that won’t work.
Fourteen student actors and the stage manager have been working on the production since October/November 2022.
“Months of work,” said Gatti. “I am going to remember just how much fun we had making it.”
“Months! Months!” Zehr laughed.
“It’s a big deal because… this is like drama’s relaunch at Delhi District Secondary School,” said Thompson, who has been guiding the school’s lunch-time drama club. “I would love it if we had 100 people each night, that would be fantastic. The capacity is 300.”
DDSS students will see the production Thursday morning and Grade 6-8 students from three of the four DDSS feeder schools will see it Friday morning.
Thompson said they plan to do another show next year.
“This is just the beginning,” Thompson smiled. “We’re just scratching the surface.”
Doors open at 6:30 pm both nights at the school and shows start at 7 pm General admission is $5 and the community is invited.
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