Harwich Troupe Debuts At 204 With First-rate ‘Ghost Story’

Halloween’s on the way, so why not take in a spooky play to get you in the mood? 

“Ghost Story,” playing through Oct. 25 at the 204 Cultural Center Municipal Building on Sisson Road in Harwich, will fill your (metaphorical) trick-or-treat bag with creepy eye candy — and plenty of it — as it unspools the story of a naïve governess hired under strange circumstances, children with attitude, a possibly haunted beach, and a creaky old house with secrets within and night winds without. 

“Ghost Story” is an “immersive adaptation” by Harwich resident Tristan DiVincenzo of the Henry James 1898 novella “The Turn of the Screw.” DiVincenzo also directed this premiere production of his Capeness performing arts organization. And immerse us it does, in lights and shadows thrown all over the walls and ceiling of the very attractive 204 auditorium from (LED) lanterns, in hallucinatory video thrown on the upstage wall, in people creeping, spinning, and running all around the stage — and at times in the aisles — and in stunning rear-projection pantomime.

That there is so much movement in this play should come as no surprise. DiVincenzo, who moved here from New York City in 1990, said during a recent interview on the Harwich cable channel that he was a member of the last class of students of the sublime American pioneer of modern dance and choreography Martha Graham. The lineage shows in the organic, expand-and-contract, almost ritualistic behavior of the black-clad figures.

“Many of the performers have never been on stage before,” DiVincenzo said during his brief introductory remarks on opening night. But the newcomers, mostly in their early-to-mid teens, did not show it. Their movement and their stage presence kept the magic going throughout the performance, which runs a brisk 75 minutes, including a short intermission during which cookies and bottled water were offered for sale.

In speaking roles, the actors all delivered the goods. These included Emily Entwistle, Steph DeFarie, Matt Gardner, and Maureen Casale. The two children around whom the action swirls, Flora and Miles, are played by Juliet Seeley and Zoey MacBride with poise, confidence, and an utter lack of “cute.” (Ditto for a small cluster of ghost children.) Everyone spoke with clear diction as well as displaying precise movement. Because of its literally wall-to-wall grasp of the audience (every surface of the stage and the auditorium gets soaked with light and shadow at some point), it is no exaggeration to call this show “immersive.”

It didn’t hurt the multi-media, immersive atmosphere of “Ghost Story” that, as we left the theater, a big full moon was rising and an equally big coyote was crossing 204’s lawn through the headlights of our car. It really felt like Halloween.

On opening night, perhaps because it was a Thursday and thus a school night, there were no young people in the audience, and it would be wonderful if they would start coming to this play. “Ghost Story” could be a perfect introduction to the magic of theater, because even if “There’s nothing to see” repeats as a constant refrain in the story, there is plenty to see in this first-rate production.

Capeness (which DiVincenzo named in homage to Loch Ness) plans to use the 204 as its home base. The building, once the Harwich Middle School, has become a busy center for all kinds of creativity, with studios for artists and craftspeople carved out of former classrooms, community recreational uses of the gym, and performance and meeting space in the auditorium. 

DiVincenzo said that Capeness’s next show will be “Christmas Carol by Candlelight,” lit by hundreds of LED candles and lanterns. He will again design and direct the show.