Fighting to live in a school that is unkind and living with a mother who does not understand the world without strict following of God, all lead to the destruction of a community.
On Friday, October 25, the production of “Carrie: The Musical” kicks off a thrilling and horrifying tale of a neglected girl and a school of the cruel. This is a thriller that has been reproduced many times leaving audiences wondering, “victim or villain?” This production is put on by the Coastal Carolina University (CCU) Theatre Department and Director Robin Edwards-Russell.
The show will run through Nov. 7, and the performance will be held on the main stage in the Wheelwright Auditorium. Student and faculty tickets are $5 each, and regular tickets are $25 per person.
Robin Edwards-Russell, professor emeritus and the director of CCU’s “Carrie,” spoke on what the show is sure to give patrons.
“[Carrie is] an outcast who does not fit into the norms of society, in her social life or school life. She has a mother who is extremely religious which made her sheltered, and she had enough and retaliated, ending in destruction,” Edwards-Russell said.
Main performers and senior BFA musical theater majors Alexa Niles and Annabel Poinsette said viewers can expect to feel many different emotions throughout the show, especially pertaining to their characters.
“Should you feel empathy for the characters Margaret and Carrie White, or are they the villains of this story? Does her life excuse her actions?” Niles asked.
They explained how this show will make you question certain aspects of your own life as well. Throughout the production, Carrie grows into a woman by being bullied by the popular girls, Sue and Chris, and she finally defies her mom just to get hurt in the end. She grew up abused by her mother, all to protect her, when really it was slowly breaking her.
After being broken down at home and in school, she earned the “devil’s power” of telekinesis to make her feel less helpless. She finally thinks she caught a break when going to prom with Tommy Ross, the best-looking guy in school. This is until she gets humiliated by being crowned prom queen and getting drenched in pigs’ blood which breaks her, and she kills everyone.
At the conclusion of the opening performance, a standing ovation from the crowd served as a sign that all of the crew’s hard work had paid off.
One audience member, sophomore sports management major Kat Trent, said she enjoyed the show and also had conflicting thoughts on who the victim was.
“I loved the parts between Carrie and her mom there was so much emotion there,” Trent said, “I believe that Carrie was a victim to her mother, but the mom was a victim to her past.”
