Theater Faculty, Alumni, Students Help Scare Visitors at Eastern State Penitentiary

By Caitlin Burns | October 25, 2017

Faculty, alumni, and students from the University Theater Arts Program are scaring visitors at Eastern State Penitentiary as members of the Terror Behind the Walls team.

At Eastern State Penitentiary, which transforms into Terror Behind the Walls each night around Halloween, Theater Costume Shop Manager Alisa Kleckner is working as Costume and Props Director, while Tessa Paige ’18, Arianna Kendra ’17, and Morgan McCoy ’17 are working in costume and props. Along with them, Madison Cadullo ’16 and Angelina Boccuti ’08 are actors in the haunted prison.

“As a part of the creative team, I help engineer the story,” said Kleckner, who works with the penitentiary’s creative team to develop and design the sets and costumes of Terror Behind the Walls. “Haunted attractions allow for a lot of creative freedom. It allows for more technical work, with a lot of specialized materials that I enjoy working with.”

Terror Behind the Walls continues through Nov. 11. The haunted attraction fundraises to support the maintenance of Eastern State Penitentiary, which is a National Historic Landmark.