MONTAGUE – Part scavenger hunt and theater performance using puppets, the Skeleton Crew, sometimes known as the Troll People, have concluded their performance season for the year and did so on a high note. Around this time last year, the crew was worried about being able to perform at all.
In November of 2017, Turners Falls High School film teacher and founder of the Skeleton Crew Theater, Jonathan Chappell, got a phone call that a storage barn for the crew caught on fire and a majority of the displays were destroyed.
Skeleton Crew Theater is a volunteer-run theater troupe based in Gill composed of alumni and students from Turners Falls High School. Unlike other theater performances, their show is made to be adaptable to all environments and immersive for the audience.
The crew models each show around the idea of the “Hero’s journey” where participants play the role of the “hero” in a tale of myth and mystery, with their choices determining the end of the story.
The crew has been around for over 20 years, and attend sfestivals like Mutton and Mead to the Garlic and Arts festival.
Their longtime presence in the area made the fire even more difficult, not only because items destroyed cost roughly $1,000 each, but also because they had sentimental value and resulted from years of work, Chappell said.
Some items lost were a serpent, pirates, a Sasquatch, parts of the pumpkin patch, Hex – a giant spider – and others.
One big staple was the pumpkin patch, which is made of fiberglass and felt with leaves which never rot and withstand the rain and wind.
“I didn’t know if we would come back,” Chappell said. “We were thinking of ways to recoup from that and so we started a GoFundMe page.”
Through roughly $500 raised through GoFundMe and a backyard show/fundraiser the crew raised about $1,000.
As part of a “teachable moment,” Chappell decided to have the group build some of the items again.
“I asked myself, ‘Well, why don’t we build it all together?’” Chappell said.
Then around October of this year, crew members proposed trying to put together the annual show with the materials they had. Within one month they did just that.
“It was pretty complicated, we rewrote the show around what we had going on,” said Turners Falls junior and crew member Korey Martineau.
As a collaborative effort, the group makes the puzzles and riddles for the show and crew members write scripts and record the voices as well. There are also other characters such as witches and trolls, which get the chance to ad-lib.
The students involved have fun being a part of the show, especially enjoying the behind-the-scenes work done, like trying to hide from the audience during the show.
Martineau said his favorite part was the interactive side of the theater. For example, there is a part where people are tasked with telling jokes to the pumpkin patch which lights up.
Sophomore Kate Gaves said she enjoys it because “We get to make magic for people … We’re making things that are out of people’s wildest dreams and they get to talk to them and enjoy them. It’s also pretty cool to hear people’s reactions.”
The Skeleton Crew Theater also places a static display at different locations every year. This year the crew placed on Barton Cove a sign reading: “honk if you like monsters.”
And they’ll be back again next year.
“Every year it gets better and better. We build new parts and voice the creatures,” Chappell said.
Chappell said he started the Skeleton Crew Theater for high schoolers.
“It’s never made any money,” Chappel said. “But I’ve seen shy kids find their voice, artistic kids find their medium, and sporty kids nourish their need to create. I’m happy with that.”