The Haunting of Hill House- Meet cast member Patricia Nicklin!

What do you find appealing about your character and this show? Shirley Jackson, the author of the Haunting of Hill House, is one of the most brilliant of American horror writers.  As a female author writing in the 1950s, she was a trendsetter and I feel honored to appear in the play based on her book.   The most interesting thing about this play is the psychological underpinning – are the ghosts that haunt us coming from outside, or from within ourselves?

What have you learned about yourself in playing the role of “Mrs. Montague___”? I love playing Mrs. Montague, who is the domineering wife of Dr. Montague, the “doctor of the paranormal” in the play.   Mrs. Montague is a fan of the spiritualism movement, and she believes that we must save the “loving spirits” who haunt the house.   As you will see, she is a comic figure but she is desperate for Dr. Montague to respect her for her methods to call up the spirits.  I learned how to accelerate from funny to serious to tragic while playing her.

What do you want the audience to experience/take away from this show?  I want the audience to simply enjoy it – to be afraid, and but also to see the humor in the human condition.   We have a great cast and crew, and I hope that they take away a sense of the subtlety of our performances as well as the frailty of the human spirit. 

How does this show differ from other shows you have worked on?  This is the first horror/scary show that I’ve been in, but I’ve acted in many roles where I’m playing the funny person – but with a twist.  I love the fact that Maggie Mumford, our Director, is an English professor who has studied Shirley Jackson and understands the underlying meaning of the play and our words.

How long have you been acting and what made you get involved in theatre? How did you get involved with LTA?  I have been acting and singing on and off for 30 years, but just recently returned to the stage in the last 5 years, playing Passepartout in Around the World in 80 Days at the Theatre Lab, and with the Stonehill Theatre Foundation in strong female roles like Dolly Madison and the suffragette Alice Paul, and most recently I had the pleasure of playing Pamela Peabody in The Fox on the Fairway, a British farce here at LTA. 

What advice would you give others who are interested in working in theatre?  You should go for it – no matter where you are in life or career.  Who knows?  You could have as much fun as we are!