Love never dies…and neither does revenge.
Silent Scream by Sean P. Mette
6W, 2M or 5W, 3M
(40 minutes, possibly longer depending on distance between performance locations)
Cast (in order of appearance) :
Doctor Kennedy Edith Louise Dinkley The Phantasm Virginia Grace O’Connor George/Georgia Marsh Nellie Rose Ward Billy Bailey Rachel Lockwood
Silent Scream was created as way to create theatre safely during the Covid-19 pandemic. The safety for the audience and actors had been built into the production design of the show. Precautions included physically distant staging, isolated rehearsals, required mask wearing, private party audience tours, and staggered ticketing to keep crowd numbers low. Periodic cleaning throughout the show occurred on all handrails and other high-touch surfaces. Each tour had a single guide to navigate through the theater’s historic campus, and patrons were only grouped with members of their own party for tours.
Although the show was devised to be safely performed during the pandemic. The show can be easily enhanced during non-pandemic times and is flexible to be performed in a variety of venues.
Press
Covington's The Carnegie is Hosting Walking Mystery Tour Performance This Halloween (Hailey Bollinger, City Beat Cincinnati)
The Carnegie Hosts Halloween Themed Production, SILENT SCREAM (Behind the Curtain Cincinnati)
This weekend: ‘Silent Scream’ and ‘HOWL-O-Ween’ (The Lane Report)
Original Production Cast
Kyle Taylor as Doctor Kennedy Knox Overstreet as Edith Louise Dinkley Aiden Sims as The Phantasm Makenzie Ruff as Virginia Grace O’Connor Liz Carmen as Georgia Marsh Zoe Rose Davidson as Nellie Rose Ward Trevor Browning as Billy Bailey Rachel Barkalow as Rachel Lockwood
Directed by Sean P. Mette Producer – Maggie Perrino Production Manager – Ria Villaver Collins Lighting Design – Chanelle Dau Pino
Silent Scream premiered Thursday, October 29th 2020 at the The Carnegie, Covington, KY.
Original Production Director’s Notes
When I was a child, my father took me to a ghost show. We sat in the parlor of an old mansion, which had been converted into a museum. The lights dimmed and the spirits rose. They stood before us in all their transparent, spectral glory recounting the grand and forgotten stories of their lives. As the show ended and the lights returned to full, they seemingly melted back into the ether, returning to the grave from which they came.
I love a good ghost story. I suspect that if you are attending a performance of Silent Scream and reading these thoughts, then I suspect that you might love a good ghost story as well. My love of ghost stories comes from my father, Brian. At an early age, my father would recount great stories of souls that had passed on and the spirits that were trying to make their way back. Whether it was walking through a historic cemetery or sitting around a campfire, my father always had a good story to tell.
If you ask me, the best ghost stories are never solely about frightening the audience. There is a place for those types of stories. However, in my opinion, after you scare your audience, then what? The story is over. I prefer ghost stories that root themselves in your consciousness and have you thinking about them far after the initial scare has passed. I tend to write stories about love, and so, why should a ghost story be any different. I am sure that many of us are personally haunted by a love that was left behind.
In developing Silent Scream, my greatest inspiration, without a doubt, would be the House of the Seven Gables (both the book and location). The House of the Seven Gables, made famous by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel of the same name, is a 1668 colonial mansion in Salem, Massachusetts. Several years ago, I found myself in Salem, Massachusetts for the Halloween holidays. While I was there, I fell in love with the historic house. In my opinion, the house imprints on those that visit. It draws the willing in and rewards them with a glimpse into a place not of our time and forever leaves them under its spell. My love for The House of Seven Gables, and Salem as a whole, can best be summed up in a line that was cut from Silent Scream due to timing: “Salem is the perfect place for the living and the dead.”
I want to thank The Carnegie for allowing me to create this story in their historic halls. I could not have asked for a better backdrop for a little haunting of my own design.
Enjoy your adventure as you experience Silent Scream and good luck…I think you’re going to need it.
Sean P. Mette (October 2020)
