Something Wicked This Way Comes

            Yesterday, the honors college traveled to Virginia to go to see the play Something Wicked This Way Comes. It was such an amazing day! The group of around twenty of us got on a school bus for the hour drive over. The bus ride was one of the best parts because I got to know the people who are in the honors college with me better.

             When we got there, we ate lunch at a really cool restaurant called Political Dogs right across from the theatre. That place was remarkable because it was all about political stuff. They had campaign signs from congressmen and women, senators, presidential candidates, and so many more covering all the walls and the ceiling. They had bobble heads along with a lot of other satirical items poking fun at political people around the room. There were even Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton chia pets. So, the atmosphere was cool, but the food was better. Political Dogs was known for its hotdogs, and I can see why. All of their food items were named politically. One of my friends ate a Declaration of Independence, which was a hamburger. I had a hotdog called the Hanging Chad that had tater tots, baked beans, barbeque sauce, and cheese whiz on it with a side of Buffalo macaroni and cheese that, according to the menu, was “slap yo momma good.” I will confer that all the food I had was pretty slap yo momma good.

            After we ate, we headed over to Barter theatre, which was a really old, pretty, authentic brick building, but inside, it was cool because it had modern elements mixed with original elements. The honors kids had seating up above the stage, so we could see everything well. The theatre was packed with people of all ages murmuring with excited, and once everyone got in and settled down, the director came out and welcomed off, stepped off the stage, and the play began.

            Something Wicked This Way Comes is a story about two 13 year olds, one named Jim and the other, Willy. The two are typical 13 year olds; they mess around and adventure and Jim wishes to be older. A carnival comes to town that is very eerie and ominous, and because of the carnival, strange occurrences begin to happen to people that visit the attraction. Jim, Willy, and eventually Willy’s father get caught up in it and try to rid the town of the evil carnival. There is a happy ending, and Willy and his father grow closer, Willy and Jim become closer, and overall the play teaches you that you’re never too old to enjoy life and take advantage of its fun opportunities.

            The play was amazing. The actors were very talented, the costume designs were awesome, and the special effects blew my mind. I am quite easily entertained, and at one point, one of the characters did a magic rick with a card which I was awe-struck about. Also, they had fire at a couple points, which was an added bonus and probably one of my favorite things about the performance. Afterwards, the actor that played Jim, and the actor of the main antagonist, Dr. Dark, came and let us ask questions. Most of the questions were about Dr. Dark’s costume; he had cool yellow reptile contacts in, an airbrushed, thin fleshy colored mesh shirt that made him look like he had tattoos all over, and lots of makeup that really added to his character. We asked about the set, and how the actors really got into their character, and other questions like that. It was quite remarkable overall and I would definitely go to the Barter theatre again!