We have all read headlines like this while standing in line at our local grocery store; however, a group of local theatre students will attempt to turn the fabricated news story into reality when they perform their version of Bat Boy: The Musical at Caffé Lena Black Box Theatre.

Channel Z Production’s Young Adult Ensemble is currently preparing for their upcoming performance of the play, which directors Julie Congress and Ryan Emmons have decided to stage in the style of German Expressionism. The musical is an adaptation of the acclaimed Weekly World News story about a half boy, half bat found living in a cave and how he eventually touches the lives of the entire town of Hope Falls, West Virginia.

“We are doing it differently than it is usually done by performing it in the style of German Expressionism,” Congress said. “So it is very stylized because a lot of the productions of the play are almost making fun of what the show is, and we really wanted to do justice to it by bringing out the story.”

Emmons said the decision to project the story in a more serious light was due in part to their vision that the play was more about acceptance and people being different than it was about the play’s humor.

The production is the final phase in what started as a high school theatre class whose aim was at training teens in the art of theatre. The student’s opportunity to present the play is something they wouldn’t normally be able to do at the public high school level due to depictions of violence, gore, incest and rape inherent in the production.

“The students are able to do theatre here that couldn’t happen at the public high school level, so they have the opportunity to do something edgier than they would in a high school production,” Congress said.

The play will consist of 16 area high school students including a four-member student band who will perform the music for the show. “It’s been a great experience,” student actor Ryan Crotty said. “I’m very excited because we have been working really hard so I think it will turn out great, and it will also be a great experience for people who have not seen expressionist plays before.”

Channel Z Productions has been the resident theatre company at Caffé Lena since 2000. It has been built by the talented and committed mother/daughter team of Irma and Jeannette Zehr. It offers many low-income and at-risk youth a positive, life-changing experience in theatre training.

“The theatre offers these kids a really great outlet for them to express themselves in a way they normally wouldn’t be able to,” Emmons said.

The show runs May 3, 4, 10, 11 and 18 at 1:30 p.m. and May 5, 6, 12, 13 and 19 at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $10 for students and $12 for general admission. Seats can be reserved by calling the box office at 583-0022 ext. 94

“We really aspire towards professionalism,” Congress said. “We treat these kids like pros and attempt to bring out the special talents that each one of them possesses.”