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Wicked Lit 2014
Reviewed by Terry Morgan
Unbound Productions
Through November 8
RECOMMENDED:
This sixth annual presentation by Unbound Productions is a cool, autumnal treat. Participants gather at the Mountain View Mausoleum & Cemetery in Altadena to witness three adaptations of famous scary stories from literature or folklore, staged on the grounds.
The audience begins the evening in a courtyard, where “The Spirits of Walpurgisnacht,” an interstitial series of scenes, runs between the main three plays. We are welcomed by Franz Mesmer (Dustin Hess), who informs us that we are at the festival of Walpurgisnacht, a night where dead spirits roam the land. We’re safer here with his electronic ghost-repelling contraption, supposedly. But new inventions have their dangers . . .
“Dracula’s Guest” follows the ill-fated journey of Jonathan Harker (Eric Keitel) on his way to meet the mysterious Count. Unlucky Johann (John T. Cogan) has been given the job to take Harker where he needs to go, but unfortunately they are set upon by the Count’s vampire brides (McKenzie Eckels and Angie Hobin) before they can get there.
William Joseph Hill is amusingly gruff yet fearful as the not-quite-brave-enough Story Guide. Keitel blusters nicely as the oblivious Harker, and Cogan possesses the studied concern of a man who knows he’s probably traveling to his death. Eckels and Hobin make their undead menace distinctly alluring as the demonic damsels. John Leslie’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s short story (which feels like a deleted chapter from Dracula) is concise and to the point, and Jeff G. Rack’s direction makes the most of walking through an actual moonlit graveyard. The undeniable star of the show, however, is the sound design by Drew Dalzell and Noelle Hoffman, which provides boomingly loud thunder, wolves howling and other wonderfully evocative effects.
“The Monk” concerns a deal that broke young Matilda (Ember Knight) makes with a demonic nun (Wendy Worthington) to corrupt the pious monk Ambrosio (Eric Harris). Though Matilda is desperate for cash, when she falls for handsome nobleman Lorenzo (Michael Perl), she’s not certain whether to follow through with her devilish task or not.
Knight capably balances Matilda’s sympathetic side with reluctantly cold calculation. Her scenes with the poised and charming Perl, showing her longing for love and security, reveals her tragic predicament. Harris is charismatic as the good monk, but Worthington steals the show as Sister, growling insults and adlibs with superb comic timing. Douglas R. Clayton’s adaptation of Matthew Gregory Lewis’ novella is solid but feels a bit short — more time with Ambrosio would be welcome. Debbie McMahon gets terrific performances from her cast, and her staging of the final scene, where the audience looks down upon the action from a gallery above, is an inspired touch that could be seen as heavenly observers gazing down upon mortal folly.
“Las Lloronas” –- the most spectacular of the three plays — takes its stories from folklore, the tale of “The Weeping Woman” retold in several times and settings. The story is always essentially the same: a good woman has two children with a man who betrays her, and she kills her children to get back at him, bemoaning her choice as a wailing spirit in the afterlife. A quintet of five actresses (Katelyn Gault, Bianca Gisselle, Anna Gabrielle Gonzalez, Lisa McNeely and Melissa Perl) play different variations on the title character, with a sardonic Joe Camareno as El Diablo for our host.
The incredible setting of the shadowy mausoleum blends perfectly with Ric Zimmerman and Hilda Kane’s astonishing lighting design. Lights strobe down the pillars of the corridor and a supernatural presence makes a startling appearance. Jonathan Josephson’s adaptation of the folklore plays like gangbusters, under Paul Millet’s powerful direction.
Caution: There is much walking required in Wicked Lit, and much of it takes place in the dark on uneven surfaces. There are more than a few stairways to climb. And the show is three-and-a-half hours long. Still, for those who want to celebrate Halloween in an unusually theatrical way, this event won’t disappoint.
Mountain View Mausoleum & Cemetery, 2300 N. Marengo Ave., Altadena. Wed.-Sun. 7:30 p.m.; through November 8. https://www.wickedlit.org
