Don’t expect a seat if you purchase a ticket to the fall production of the Shepherd University theater department. In the spirit of the season, the students have transformed the Marinoff Theater into a multi-room escape cave. Does the floor move? Are the walls closing in? What’s in that chest? Visitors will need to figure things out for themselves in this creepy experience. For the audience, the goal is to keep walking and figure out how to get out by themselves — if they can!
The production is the work of the Advanced Theater Practice class. The students worked with kb saine, associate professor of theater, over the summer to develop the concept and have spent 20 hours a week for the past months to write the scripts, create costumes, build the puzzles and construct the set.
Chase Molden, the theater technical director, says, “It’s been built based on the students’ ideas as opposed to what would normally happen in theater — which is where there’s a set script and you get to build based off of that. I’m still not quite sure what’s going to happen, so the whole thing is built very flexibly so if at any point something has to change, we can knock out a wall and build something in its place.”
Molden noted that, “one of our goals with this project was to show students how theater skills can be applied to a wide range of entertainment businesses. It’s also a chance for performers and tech crew to experience a different relationship with the audience, since everyone is together in the same room.”
Event Information & Tickets
The Cryptid Cave escape room will be presented at the Marinoff Theater, 62 West Campus Dr, Shepherdstown. Parking will be available in lot E. Recommended for age 12 and up.
Performance times on Oct 25, 26, 27, 28 and Nov 1, 2, 3, 4.
General admission is $15. $10 for Shepherd employees and alumni; FREE for Shepherd students with a valid Rambler ID.
Tickets must be reserved in advance. Available online at Shepherd.edu/theater/current-production.
