SISTERS – There was Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion.

But this certainly wasn’t Kansas.

Those familiar with the popular tale might not even recognize it as the Land of Oz.

Dorothy struts as a sultry Gothic queen in a low-cut shirt and high-riding skirt.

The Scarecrow struck a Beetlejuice-esque note with skeleton shirt and a top hat that sat atop long-braided loads of blond hair.

The wicked witch of the west dressed as a cheerleader clad in hot pink.

No, this wasn’t your parents’ Wizard of Oz that unfolded Friday and on this Saturday night in a small drama room on the second floor of Sisters High School.

And that is just the way creators Katherine Sims and Casey Pyke wanted it.

The pair of Sisters High juniors hatched an idea over the summer for a different kind of telling of a familiar tale, Pyke said. Sims, an aspiring set and costume designer, said she wanted the production to reflect her own style which is heavy on black clothing and dark makeup.

”I like taking things out and putting them in cool different settings,” Sims said.

The result was The Dark and Peculiar tale of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which Sims and Pyke intentionally scheduled for a pair of shows over the Halloween weekend.

While officially sponsored by Sisters High, the production was largely the product of Sims and Pyke and the rest of the 17-person cast.

Budget cuts this year forced the high school to cut drama from its fall semester classes. The drama program will be back in the spring.

But Pyke and Sims decided to push ahead on their own. They developed their own script, sewed together costumes cobbled from Sims’ own wardrobe and local thrift stores, built a set and filmed a video introduction to the play.

High School drama teacher Kit Stafford was among those who attended the play Saturday night. She said that she has been impressed with the cast’s determination to perform their unique interpretation of the play.

”The spirit of theater is great,” she said. ”You don’t have to squelch it with academics.”

After a relatively problem-free performance Friday night, the cast gathered again Saturday evening to go over lines and put on makeup and costumes two hours before the start of the play.

Backstage, Sims and other makeup artists drew wild black designs on the powder-white faces of fellow cast members.

The makeup artists worked from a tablet of sketches listing the name of each character, accompanied by a drawing of the design and the color of the makeup to be applied.

Even more work has gone into the costumes that Sims sketched out months in advance and largely put together by hand.

Drama teacher Stafford said she watched the process unfold. Unlike most high school set and costume designers who develop their ideas as they work, Sims was able to visualize what she wanted and create it.

”A lot of people just see what comes out. She had a vision and she went for it,” Stafford said.

The people in the audience Saturday night weren’t the only ones whose tastes and ideas were likely challenged by the production.

Many of the cast members don’t regularly venture out in public clad in black clothes, said Prescott Coombs, who played the Wizard.

”It’s kind of a big departure for a lot of people,” Coombs said.

Eric Flowers can be reached at 541-504-2336 or eflowers@bendbulletin.com.