Seraphim Theatrical Entertainment — Attraction in Rapid City

We spent a few vacation days in Rapid City, where The Scarlet Pimpernel was playing in a local theatre. Since a made-for-TV rendition of the story has been my favorite movie for years, we were really looking forward to the experience. We were not disappointed!

The set design was top notch, the costumes were par excellence, and the sound/lighting technicians really put on a fantastic show. (Inventive use of black light, by the way. Every scene change became a feature thanks to the way petticoats, cuffs, and cravats stood out against the darkness.)

The theatre itself is rather quaint and nostalgic, too. I struggled to find good information online to tell me where the performance would be located, but their website directed me to a Facebook page where I was able to send a message and ask for an address. It would have been helpful to know that Seraphim Theatrical Entertainment is the name of a physical performance venue, and not just the organizational name of a company of players and their administrative staff.

Given the theatre company's rather unique mission statement and description of its personnel, I also ventured to ask for a recommendation regarding local churches to visit while we were here. Not only did they respond quickly with their location, they also recommended the church which meets in their current building, plus another local congregation which also appeared to be a viable recommendation.

The quality of the play itself was really good for community theatre. (I grew up in an avid theatre community in small-town Canada and now I live in Bozeman, Montana; both of which are burgeoning with excellent community theatre.) The only real issues I noticed were a few details:

Although the physical setup of the venue was reminiscent of a theatre-in-the-round, the performance was blocked in a manner that is more conducive to a black box stage. On several occasions, one or more players blocked another from our view, so we would see the back of a head/shoulders instead of seeing the face of whomever was speaking at that time. An adjustment of spacing/angles and coaching players to cheat out so as to improve the audience's ability to see them could have made a world of difference.

The lion's share of spoken lines in the play were delivered at wildfire speed, making it incredibly difficult to catch and understand dialogue in real time. This affected the timing on several humorous moments, which affects the entire experience.

The script itself is phenomenal. Added details (which I do not recall from the movie but assume came from the book) added additional depth and richness to the plot and character development. I understand this adaptation of the classic novel was written by one of Seraphim's founders? Well done! Now I am inspired to finally pick up the book and begin reading it for myself.

If we return to Rapid City in the future, I will definitely be checking in with Seraphim to see if they are putting on yet another enjoyable production. I hope they are, otherwise we may need to adjust our travel dates to align with future...

I am writing this review because I have so much respect for my cousin starting this theatre in a very difficult area: Rapid City. A cultural wasteland. Her and her husbands talent, dedication to the arts, hard work, persistence, perseverance, determination and love are so apparent. I am living here right now taking care of my dad and I Plan to attend the upcoming play Anastasia. Don’t walk run! To support this local business that is dedicated to preserving and growing culture in the Black Hills. Though I don’t really know my cousin having grown up with her dad and being close to him. I have watched her over the years and in my opinion. She is nothing...

My husband and I are late to the Seraphim bandwagon but are quickly becoming huge fans. Their variety of entertainment that our whole family can enjoy is all done so meticulously well that we can’t wait to see what’s in store for next season. Their Second Star program looks like a blast for kids, their Scared Scriptless nights have me laughing until I cry, and their debut musical (Little Shop of Horrors) was so well executed that I hope there are more musicals in the works for the future! Thank you for providing quality entertainment in...