Parklane music instructor and show choir director Shane Adams always has a smiling and helpful demeanor, but he also loves horror and stories with a dark twist.
In his directorial debut for the Pike County Little Theatre, Adams made sure he got to do something he loved — and something he believes people will find chilling.
“The Bad Seed” opened Thursday at the Depot Theatre, 206 State St. in McComb and continues 7:30 tonight and Saturday, and at a 2;30 p.m. matinee on Sunday.
Refreshments will be for sale during intermission in the Limelight Cafe.
Tickets are $10 at the door. Bring cash or a check.
The original story was a stage play written in 1954 by Maxwell Anderson, then adapted as a novel by William March and finally as an Academy Award-winning movie directed by Mervyn Leroy — adaptation most are familiar with.
Adams said he’d been a fan of the story long before he found out there was a play.
He said it’s a story that he’s been fascinated by since he was a kid.
“I didn’t know until a couple of years ago that there was a stage version,” Adams said. “When I found out I knew I wanted to direct it. October is the perfect month for a psychological thriller.”
“The Bad Seed” is about a precocious Southern girl, Rhoda Penmark, whose mother has a horrible suspicion that her little darling has committed a deadly sin against a classmate who drowns after winning a penmanship award that Rhoda believes she should have received.
“When I was a kid I was fascinated with the idea that a child could be the villain,” Adams said. “As I got older, the psychological side of the show made more sense, and I was equally as fascinating.”
Alex Laurich plays the bad seed, who in the end may be more adept than anyone imagined at maintaining herself as sweet little Rhoda, while hiding a killer beneath her white-washed smile.
Theatre president Jennifer Temple said the plot has an unexpected twist that will be chilling.
“This is the first time we’ve done a production that is geared towards an adult audience,” Temple said in a recent interview about opening “The Bad Seed” here in McComb.
“I’m anxious to see how this show goes over,” Temple said. “We usually gear all of our shows towards families, and that has been really good for us. But we thought this would be a great show for October.”
Tickets can be bought ahead of show times at Lott Furniture Co. on Anna Drive. Seating is limited.
