Intelligencer Journal from Lancaster, Pennsylvania • 49

Theater Fridm, October 26, 2007 11 Intelligencer Joirnnl, Lncster, P. Psychological spookiness Williamsons Revenant at TSS provides a creepy time with (or without?) ghosts DETAILS Revenant, by Chet Williamson, a Project Genesis staged reading, today and Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2:30 p.m., Theater of the Seventh Sister, Stahr Performing Arts Center, 438 N. Queen 396-7764.

to help steer the plays future direction. Were doing some things with lights and sound that give it a little more dimension than just a staged reading, Williamson said of Revenant, which is directed by Lydia Brubaker and will be performed three times this weekend at TSSs new home in Stahr Performing Arts Center. Williamson admits he might be as scared as the audience when his first play takes the stage, but for different reason. Ill be hanging on every word to see if people laugh where theyre supposed to laugh and react the way I intended, he said. Gauging the audience reaction is really going to be weird for me.

Im a little tense about that. But I trust the actors and the director. Theyre all very good. ghosts are causing harm, but there are scenes that are presented subjectively as opposed to objectively. I tried to pull back on how much is seen on stage, so the protagonist will see things the audience wont see.

Ive always found the unseen is much scarier than w'hat w'e do see. Williamson, whos also an actor, enjoys the immediacy of theater, but there arent many psychological thrillers written for the stage. I thought maybe it was a niche I could fill, he said. Revenant is part of Theater of the Seventh Sisters Project Genesis, which puts works-in-progress by area writers on stage for readings actors reading scripts without costumes, sets and choreography followed by talkback sessions with audiences after each performance made his mark on the literary world with his horror books, including his about-to-be-re-leased novella, The Story of Noichi the Blind. Frankly, Im not much of a believer in anything paranormal.

What I find interesting is when ghosts are used as a metaphor or triggering device to look underneath peoples personalities, Williamson said. And thats what Revenant is all about. Set near New Hope, Williamsons play centers on a couple in the throes of an already crumbling relationship. When they leave New York for their haven away from the city, new ghostly stresses hinder the relationship. Its really more about the people and their reactions when confronted with evidence of the supernatural than it is about the supernatural itself, Williamson said.

What really interests me is how the characters respond to this BY SUSAN E. LINDT Intelligencer Journal Staff Tis the season for scary tales, and Theater of the Seventh Sister has one. Revenant is a long-in-the-works play by Elizabethtown horror author Chet Williamson. This weekend, the psychological thriller takes the stage for the first time in a reading that promises to creep you out. Williamsons tale began years ago as a more traditional ghost story.

But as he developed the play through Lancaster Dramatists Platform, a workshop group for screenwriters and playwrights, it took a different shape. It really had a huge transformation, Williamson said. It went from being a traditional ghost story to being more of a psychological thriller. Its gone through a lot. But its scary and its bizarre.

Oddly, Williamson isnt a believer in ghouls and thats interesting for a guy who has pressure and stress. The psychological part enters not only in how the characters react to the suggestion of paranormal activity around them, but also for the audience, who must judge whether the characters are really seeing w'hat theyre reacting to or if its illusion. Its sort of like the untrustworthy narrator in fiction, Williamson said. What you see happening on stage might not be whats happening in reality. You might think the Holiday at tlie Lebanon Expo Center, Let anon, PA Off Rt 72 on Roclierty R1, Soutli of Lebanon October 2 7 28 Saturday 9-13 Sunday 10-4 Crafts featured included Primitive, Folk Art, Country, Contemporary, Victorian.

Jill Coste and Timothy Scott Riggs rehearse a scene from Theater of the Seventh Sisters Revenant..