Halloween at The Vic: ‘Cask of Amontillado’

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Victorian Players present an adaptation of an Edgar Allan Poe classic every Halloween season, and this year it will be “The Cask of Amontillado,” which opens Friday and runs through Oct. 31.

“Cask” is more a story of revenge than horror, but it is in the telling that the creepy Poe style is produced.

The play centers around Fortunato, a wine expert, and Montresor.

Fortunato repeatedly has offended Montresor, and when the offenses approach insult, Montresor decides to get revenge.

This is where the story begins, taking the audience through the depths of Montresor’s troubled mind.

J.E.Ballantyne Jr., who adapted Poe’s tale to the stage and also directs, said he has expanded the story just a bit.

“The original story is strictly a two-character story,” he said. “No one else is mentioned. I have introduced some revelers at the beginning in the carnival, where the story begins. This will give it a little bit of a background that you don’t really get in the original story. As the two men progress through the catacombs toward the Amontillado wine, I also introduced some extra surprises along the way.”

The cast of “Cask” is led by Alan McCreary as Montresor, and Brian Lee as Fortunato.

The play is being co- produced by the Victorian Players and J&B Production Arts Services.

A special promotion will take place during the entire run of the show in which a local television or radio personality will serve as a “mystery reveler” each night during the opening carnival scene.

Clues will be included in the program as to who this reveler might be.

If the “mystery reveler” is correctly identified by an audience member, he or she will win a bottle of Amontillado wine. Must be 18 years old to enter.