Shhh…did you hear that? That knocking on a tree? And look over there! Did you see that shadow twitch as though it were alive? While camping in the woods, a good many things could happen. You just might run across a legendary creature known as the Hide and Seek World Champion. But stay on your toes. You never know what to expect at a Master Mystery Production, because at our twenty-fourth show, we plan to let each guest have their own…

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE HAIRY KIND

You’ve never heard a campfire story like this before. Under dazzling starlight and lit only with the flickering glow of a fire, a group has gathered to tell their tales about several close encounters of the hairy kind. Invited to the campfire conference are those that have had Bigfoot sightings. They come from all walks of life. Some are local. Some are visitors. Some sightings are older. Some are very recent. All the host of this midnight meeting wishes is to garner enough positive publicity in an attempt to make the area a Bigfoot sanctuary. But a safe haven for Bigfoot is the last thing on someone’s list. While stories are shared, mountains are scoured, maps are plotted, and clues are hunted, a treacherous traitor to the cause will be on a very different kind of hunt. Who could it be? Where is Bigfoot? Is there any way to save him? Part of Weird Weekend 2019, you are specially invited to our campfire conference to track both the legend and the defector, and make the mountains safe for Bigfeet everywhere. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be lucky enough to have close encounter of your very own.

Close Encounters of the Hairy Kind is a campfire mystery play written and directed by multi-award-winning MMP legend, Monica Lorenz-Dwyer in both her playwriting and directorial debut for the company. Monica becomes the first ever outside director for Master Mystery Productions, which will open new doors for our company members to advance in their theatre opportunities. Close Encounters also marks our fifth Weird Weekend collaboration with Ridge Writers after Hello Out There (2015), Pauper’s Grave (2016), C. R. Rowenson’s The Silent City (2017), and What Happens at Sundown (2018). Inspired by the legends of Bigfoot in the East Sierra, the show will bring a wooded campground to life and be the first to be lit only by a “campfire,” camping lanterns, and flashlights for an evocative, atmospheric effect.

Monica’s cast is a healthy mix of Diamond Mask winners, returning veterans, and new performers to Master Mystery Productions, which provides the show with varied and diverse voices to create dynamic theatre. Colloquial characters as familiar as your friends and neighbors fill this interactive drama, which will also provide some of our most demanding technical challenges to date. But this amazing cast and crew has fully embraced the challenge and are creating Bigfoot magic for one unique weekend only. Lit with flickering and uncertain light, each shadow may hide an even bigger secret. What will you uncover? Because remember…seeing is believing.

Close Encounters of the Hairy Kind, written and directed by Monica Lorenz-Dwyer, performs Friday, September 27 and Saturday, September 28, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. at Ridgecrest Presbyterian Church (633 W. Las Flores Ave.) as a part of Ridge Writers’ annual Weird Weekend. Tickets are $20 each and are available right now at Red Rock Books in Ridgecrest.

Join us for two nights of star-studded skies, crackling campfires, and tall tales. But be ready. You never know if you’ll have…

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE HAIRY KIND

See you at the show!

–Master Mystery Productions