Ridley Scott, Sigourney Weaver Praise Viral Student Theater Production of Alien

A student theater production of Alien has gone viral, with Ridley Scott and Sigourney Weaver both weighing in. North Bergen High School in New Jersey put on a theatrical adaptation of the Scott-directed sci-fi horror classic, and — as you can imagine — Twitter had some feelings about it.

Last night the North Bergen High School in New Jersey put on 'Alien' as their school play and it looks absolutely incredible.#hrgiger#Alien#rushmore pic.twitter.com/5jopUecFil

— Paul Owens (@oh_pollo) March 23, 2019

A parent filmed the facehugger scene. pic.twitter.com/oamxaxikM2

— Paul Owens (@oh_pollo) March 23, 2019

I love that north bergen high school did alien last night as their school play, so I’m gonna keep tweeting about how great it is..everything was made from recycled materials .. so nuts amazing I’m so proud of my hometown pic.twitter.com/EEMEbankDz

— Andrew Fernandez (@bhsdrew) March 23, 2019

Word of the play eventually made its way both to Scott and to Weaver, who played Ripley in the original film. Scott wrote a letter to the school that Deadline obtained and which offers high praise to those involved for their “creativity, imagination, and determination to produce such an ambitious show.”

The letter goes on to say, “Limitations often produce the best results because imagination and determination can surpass any shortfalls and determine the way forward — always. Self-sufficiency is what this country was largely based upon with its immigrant population coming in to a New World and working together. This is maybe the biggest lesson for all of you, and your future plans — stay with this determination, and this spirit in everything you do, and you will succeed — let nothing put you off — or set you back.”

Scott then thanked them for choosing his film to adapt, and then offered to fun an “encore performance” through his production company, Scott Free. He also joked “How about your next TEAM production being Gladiator.”

As for Weaver, she posted a video to Twitter saying, “I just wanted to say it looked incredible,” she said. “You put so much work heart and soul into that, and the alien looked very real to me.”

Students at North Bergen High School in New Jersey recently put on an AMAZING production of #Alien. Hollywood noticed. And so did… the Queen. pic.twitter.com/u3iNOgk8Pr

— Alien (@AlienAnthology) March 28, 2019