by Contributor | October 14, 2025 9:16 am
OSWEGO – The “Grand Dame” of the Oswego Players’ – Inez Manor Parker – will again take to stage of the Frances Marion Brown Theater for the Halloween production “Foretold Tales: An Anthology of Terror”.
Probably the most unique offering of the season, Foretold Tales will present nine classic stories over its October 24th, 25th, 26th run, creating a truly anthology and repertory event. Director William Edward White compared the production to sitting down and turning on old-time radio.
“I grew up listening to the CBS Radio Mystery Theater and WRVO’s nightly ‘Theater of the Mind’. Every night there was something different, suspense, horror, science fiction. That’s what we’re looking to bring to the stage this October.”
The production will be on the stage of the Frances Marion Brown Theater at Fort Ontario, Oswego, NY. Curtain times are 7:30PM on Friday and Saturday, October 24th and 25th, with a 2PM matinee on Sunday, October 26th.
The anthology series will be broken into nightly themes or “episodes”: Mad Scientists, Future Tense, and Nine Lives. Included among the “Nine Lives” Sunday matinee is the Arch Oboler “Lights Out” classic “Little Old Lady”, which features Parker in the titular role.
Since each performance is an “episode” in this event, a special ticketing price is being offered. All seats will be $13 each per performance, with a three-day ticket for the entire event of just $26. Tickets may be purchased online at www.oswegoplayers.org[1] , or by calling the theater box office at (315) 343-5138.
Broadcast live on May 25th, 1943, the story – also known as “Mrs. Kingsley’s Report” – is typical of the storytelling style of the off the wall writer/radio host. Part fairytale, part horror story, deals with two college girls on a simple car drive to visit an Aunt who lives in an old house at the end of an abandoned road out in the woods.
“The minute I read this script, I knew Inez had to play ‘Aunt Harriet’,” White commented.
Parker, who first joined the Players’ in 1957, is the daughter of one of its founding members, Norman Manor. She has acted, directed, and guided the theater for decades, and is, indeed, the company’s heart and soul. Along with her role in “Little Old Lady”, Parker is an anchor presence on stage for the entire production in the role as “The Storyteller”, teamed with Eve Phillips as “The Host”.
“Not only did I grow up listening to radio drama, but I also never missed an episode of ‘Monster Movie Matinee’ which played Saturday afternoons on WSYR Channel 3 in Syracuse. Inez and Eve are my homage to Dr. E Nick Witty and Epal,” White quipped
The afternoon matinee of Nine Lives will also include Oboler’s 1938 classic “Cat-Wife”, and the Peter Lorre radio retelling of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”.
In addition to the three episodes, nine story anthology, the Players will be offering a special “Foretold Taste” preview night on Wednesday, October 22 at 7PM. That evening will feature selections from the entire run, including “Little Old Lady”, along with “The Chicken Heart”, “There Will Come Soft Rains”, and “The Obsolete Man”. Admission that night will be just $5 at the door, with all proceeds for the preview night going to help fund the Lawrence E. Rose and Marion Green Scholarship Funds.
“The goal is to take our audiences back to the golden age of Radio Theater. Placing them in the middle of the sights and sounds of an old-time broadcast studio – one that will take them into an adventure through the theater of the mind,” White added.
This project is made possible through the CNY Arts Grants for Regional Arts and Cultural Engagement regrant program thanks to a New York State Senate Initiative supported by the NYS Legislature, the Office of the Governor and administered by the New York State Council on the Arts.
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