By Barry Porterfield
It’s time for the unexpected twists of a Halloween favorite in Wynnewood with the return of the Tales from the Eskridge event.
About 20 kids and a handful of adults are lined up for the series of holiday skits set for a first glimpse tonight at the Eskridge Hotel located at 114 E. Robert S. Kerr Blvd. in Wynnewood.
Sandy Campbell is very familiar with every level of the event. She started as one of the actors in the Tales before quickly moving on to writing the skits and now being a coordinator for the annual event.
Every Halloween, a series of skits named Tales from the Eskridge are written, Campbell said.
“They’re basically short stories centering around Halloween time. We call it tales with a twist. They may have an unexpected twist or a semi-spooky ending,” she said. “It’s appropriate for all ages. There’s nothing to scare the little kids.”
Years ago the Wynnewood Community Theatre offered the Tales’ skits in the different rooms of the old three-story Eskridge Hotel and Museum. The audience was escorted in small groups by costumed guides to each room where a skit was staged.
Roof problems with the building eventually shut the event down before it made a return a few years ago.
Now it offers “10 little skits” produced in a large, downstairs room of the hotel.
According to Campbell, the attendance is always good. “Generally we’ll have standing room only.”
The Tales skits will be done during two performances, 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., both tonight and on Saturday.
“We take Friday nights off because of the football game,” Campbell said about the hometown Wynnewood Savages.
During Friday’s in-between day, the hotel will host a different kind of performance with magician and storyteller Michael Corley. Corley performs from 4 to 5 p.m. in the hotel theater. There is no admission charge.
Admission to the four Tales’ performances is $2 per person with children 6 and younger admitted free.
The admission money will be donated to the Wynnewood Historical Society for the upkeep of the Eskridge Hotel.
