Arnie's Scary Fun Mix at Pikes Peak State College Downtown Campus - Studio West

Pikes Peak State College and Springs Ensemble Theatre team up for Arnie’s Scary Fun Mix

Our next installment of original short plays, monologues, poetry and dance brings a strange, funny, and sometimes unsettling collection of Halloween stories to Studio West Oct. 15–26.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Pikes Peak State College Theatre Department and Springs Ensemble Theatre are teaming up again this fall for Arnie’s Scary Fun Mix, an original festival of short plays, monologues, poetry and dance centered on all things eerie, unsettling, and strange. Running October 15 through October 26 at Studio West on PPSC’s Downtown Campus, this playfest features local and regional writers in a fast-moving collection designed for the Halloween season.

Instead of following a single story, the production moves from piece to piece throughout the evening, giving audiences a mix of horror, comedy, absurdity, and the unexpected. One piece may be dark and unsettling, the next ridiculous, funny or completely different–a true community Frankenstein of a playfest.

“Named for PPSC’s beloved mascot, Arnie the Aardvark, our latest iteration gives students and community a place to make a homemade ‘mixed-tape’ of curated work,” says Sarah Sheppard Shaver, executive producer for Arnie’s Scary Fun Mix and department chair for the PPSC Theatre department. “My most recent cohort of student playwrights kept writing the most delicious, spine-tingling plays in the horror genre, so even though I scare easily, I knew I would be doing the students a disservice if I didn’t let them unleash their inner monsters.”

The production marks another collaboration between PPSC and SET, continuing a partnership that brings Springs Ensemble Theatre productions to Studio West and creates additional opportunities for students to work with local playwrights, directors, performers and theatre artists.

Featured Works

The lineup includes:

• Eric Bowlby — “The Last Machine Bleeds”

• Ryleigh Coffee — “Snack Time”

• Rose de Reamer — “Temptation”

• Cam Eickmeyer — “Unsettling”

• Steve Emily — “The Builder”

• Cassie Ferro — “Dark Things”

• Rain Gray — “IT’S ALIVE!”

• Richard Gray — “Passive”

• River Hampton — “What Big Teeth You Have”

• Jenny Maloney — selections from “100 Word Stories”

• Samuel Phaneuf — “Keeping Company”

• Amy Pieri — “The Makeover”

• Nickolas Ruíz — “In Front of a LIVE! Studio Audience”

• Nate Samuels — “What They Don’t Tell You About the Afterlife”

• Lisa Siebert — “Content”

• Quinn Smola — “Have a Good Day!”

• Huda Yousef — “The Black Widow”

Additional material may be included as the final performance lineup is completed.

Performance Schedule

Arnie’s Scary Fun Mix runs October 15 through October 26, 2026.

Performances are scheduled Thursday through Sunday, with a special pay-what-you-will Alumni and Industry Night encore on Monday, October 26.

A director and playwright panel or mixer is also planned in conjunction with the production, tentatively following the Sunday, October 18 matinee.

Full performance times and tickets are available at: pikespeak.ludus.com/index.php

Location

PPSC Studio West Pikes Peak State College Downtown Campus 22 N. Sierra Madre St. Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Studio West is a flexible black box theatre at PPSC’s Downtown Campus and hosts select productions through the ongoing partnership between Springs Ensemble Theatre and Pikes Peak State College.

Content Advisory

Arnie’s Scary Fun Mix includes a variety of independent pieces with different tones and subject matter.

Some, but not all, pieces may contain adult language, monsters, blood, sexual innuendo, depictions of death, mental illness and abuse, as well as general themes of fear and horror.play

Tickets

Tickets are available now at: pikespeak.ludus.com/index.php

More information about Springs Ensemble Theatre is available at: springsensembletheatre.org/

About Springs Ensemble Theatre

Springs Ensemble Theatre produces intimate, live theatre in collaboration with artists throughout the Colorado Springs area. By telling diverse stories on our stage, we explore problems and choices central to the human condition. We believe that theatre should engage its audience and build community by exercising the conscience, entertaining the mind, and inspiring the imagination.

About Pikes Peak State College

Our mission is to provide high quality educational opportunities to all with a focus on student success and community needs, including:

• Occupational programs, including certificates, associate and bachelor degrees, for youth and adults in career and technical fields;

• Two-year transfer educational programs to qualify students for admission to the junior year at other colleges and universities; and

• A broad range of personal, career, and technical education for adults.