As the sun went down during the first two weekends of October, the curtain rose in the theater of St. Daniel Hall at Benet Academy, where the drama troupe presented not one but two plays. “The Woman in Black” opened Oct. 4 and ran until Oct. 6, while “Radio T.B.S.” took its turn from Oct. 11 to Oct. 13.

“The Woman in Black” is a chilling drama written by Stephan Mallatrat and adapted from the novel by Susan Hill. The story follows the journey of a lawyer, Arthur Kipps, who encounters a vengeance-driven ghost, the Woman in Black, while he is settling an estate. Years later, still haunted by his memories, Kipps gets involved in acting on stage in order to make sense of what had happened by acting out the events that unfolded after he met the Woman in Black. With the help of an actor, the lawyer slowly starts to tell his story, taking on other roles while the actor assumes the role of a younger Kipps. The actors and the audience get lost in the re-telling of Kipps’ story as reality and the present-day setting merge with the past.

Benet’s production of “The Woman in Black” starred seniors Brent West, as Kipps, and Andrew Gombas, as the actor. Both West and Gombas have portrayed other roles in previous plays, and their experience was apparent as they created an atmosphere of suspense, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats for the duration of the play. John Leffler directed the play, while Bill Conley designed the set. Both Leffler and Conley are teachers at Benet who have been involved with the drama troupe for a number of years, and both put in extra time and effort this year in directing and designing two separate plays.

“Radio T.B.S. (Trailer Park Broadcasting Scandals)” is a comedy written by Mark Landon Smith that follows the goings-on in the Luna del Mar trailer park as outlined by radio hostesses Vesta Poteet and Dixie Mandrell. The audience is offered a peek into the resident’s lives as church-goer Mary Eunice petitions to evict scandalous Imogene Hurst while etiquette teacher Alveeta McClay tries to make overweight Mayola Felts the next Miss Manatee to fulfill her mother’s wishes. With Missy Goode reporting from Graceland, Harlene Akers giving her version of the weather, and reminders to visit Madge Huskey’s shrine to Elvis, the best trailer park radio show continues to rock ‘n’ roll the airwaves.

The all-female cast of Benet’s production of “Radio T.B.S.” consisted of Erin Oeschel, Courtney Shadrick, Mary Shuessler, Katie Cataldo, Elizabeth Lorenz, Kara Scheer, Danielle Vath, Lauren Baker, Dana Pellegrini and Courtney Ripoll. Sporting teased hair, colorful clothing, rubber flip-flops, and accents with enough twang to ring in one’s ears, the ladies of the Benet Drama Troupe helped their audience step from the chilly autumn evening into the sunny Luna del Mar Manufactured Home Oasis.

After the highly successful run of their two plays, the drama troupe jumped right into preparations for the winter production. Auditions took place the next week, even as the sets were being dismantled.