The 1979 sci-fi/horror classic Alien recently made headlines again. Social media went wild when images from a high school stage production of the film began to circulate. Seeing the images from the film so faithfully recreated made fans everywhere positively giddy.
People were shocked at just how faithful everything looked to the amazing and intricate production design of H.R. Giger, especially for a local public school play. The show even got glowing praise from both the original film’s director Ridley Scott and its star Sigourney Weaver via social media. So much so, that the students from North Bergen High School in New Jersey decided to put on a special encore performance. Only this time, someone filmed the whole thing.
Thanks to a lucky attendee with the YouTube account ButtonSmasher (via ScreenCrush), fans can now watch the entire 90-minute play, shot and uploaded in 4K. The encore performance was perfectly timed; the curtain rose on April 26, which the internet has now as officially dubbed “Alien Day”. (The planet where they discover the xenomorph is LV-426.) The kids got an extra awesome treat, too. Sigourney Weaver herself showed up to give the Ellen Ripley stamp of approval, and even met the young actors backstage. And luckily, that entire endearing exchange was filmed too.
Look who stopped by North Bergen High to visit the spectacular cast of Alien: The Play. Thank you, Sigourney Weaver! And thank you, North Bergen High! #AlienDay #Alien40th pic.twitter.com/ObMZh4m4t3
— Alien (@AlienAnthology) April 27, 2019
Alien turns 40 this year, and even after so many years it remains one of the most engrossing science-fiction films ever made. Its “truckers in space on a haunted starship” vibe still absolutely works four decades later. Moreover, Lt. Ripley remains a true icon of cinema. If anything, watching this play reminds us that the true heart of the franchise has always been the character of Ripley. Without her, it just isn’t the same. If the series ever does come back again, we sure hope that Sigourney Weaver is a part of it.
Images: Twentieth Century Fox one
