Theater is leaving the magic of Cinderella behind and entering a world of drama and murder. Set in the 1950’s, the Rimers of Eldritch portrays a woman named Nelly Windrod who is put on trial for shooting and killing a man on her own property because she believed the man was attacking a young village girl. The mystery of it all is whether the young girl was actually being attacked, and whether the woman on trial is guilty or not. Contributing to the intensity, no singing or music is permitted in this play. The characters will only be speaking their lines.

Head theater director Bradley Durio believes having the actors only speak their lines will give the students a chance to reveal their variety of talents.

“I think it’s a different type of talent that is shown,” Durio said. “They might not be great at singing, but the actors are still strong. Or vice versa, they might be really great at singing, but not always want to do the acting type of thing.”

Senior McKenzie Cloud plays the mother of the attacked girl, and is genuinely happy about not having to sing in this play.

“It was really fun singing in Cinderella, but I’m definitely excited about just being able to act,” Cloud said. “It’s a totally different rehearsal process in which you get to really focus on developing your character, as you feel they would act in real life.”

Despite the serious atmosphere of the play, Cloud says it doesn’t phase her.

“It’s not too hard to stay in character as long as you stay focused on the show and think in the mindset of the character,” Cloud said. “Sometimes it is hard to do serious or awkward scenes with people you know very well because it’s uncomfortable initially, but that’s why we rehearse. After you rehearse it over and over it’s easier to stay in character.”

The Rimers of Eldritch will be performed on Dec. 3-5 at 7 p.m. each night in the auditorium. General admission tickets will be available at the door for $10, but $7 for students, and as always, tickets can be bought online at LewisvilleTheatre.com as well.

The seriousness that is produced in this play will definitely highlight the talents of the actors, but Durio hopes it will have an impact on the audience as well.

“There are a lot of secrets involved, and a lot of mystery,” Durio said. “I’m hoping they can recognize that even though the play is set in the 1950’s. There are still problems in the world today that are based off of these same things that we see all the time on the news.”