This new group is touted as the only theater group on the East Coast dedicated to Grand Guignol. So far they have a few kinks to iron out but it's promising.
The show was in the back room of a bar/restaurant, the 1409 Playbill Cafe, so it was very limited seating. But you could get a drink at the bar and carry it in. They also hand out barf bags with the programs but that's more of a publicity gimmick than anything necessary. (Unlike the trash bags handed out at performances of the late great Cherry Red company, which often featured spurting stage blood. I have a shirt that still has stains.)
The show is hosted by a lingerie-clad Evira-ish lady named Bella Donna, who introduces each segment. It's three short plays from the original Grand Guignol theater.
The first is "The Lighthouse Keepers," by Paul Autier and Paul Cloquemin, about a father and son manning a lighthouse. There's some tension in the air, with the son's restlessness and desire for adventure, and the father's bitterness over his other son's death at sea, but it gets nice and gory as the son reveals he was bitten by a rabid dog and is starting to go mad...
Second is "Tics, or Doing the Deed," by Rene Berton. A farcical play about infidelity, it deals more with comic grotesquerie than blood and horror. Two couples gather for what is supposed to be a civilized evening. One husband, a doctor, is quizzed by the other husband about a strange nervous tic...he stutters for about ten minutes after having sex. The doc reveals his right leg trembles uncontrollably after sex, for about the same time. Of course, there's loads of bawdy humor, an "ugly" maid who's really a man in drag, and a final scene in which everyone's bizarre tics come forth. Actually quite funny.
Last up was "The Final Kiss," by Maurice Level. A heavily bandaged man sits in a room, attended by a doctor. We learn that a jealous woman disfigured him with acid, but he's very calm and civilized, saying he forgives her. Eventually, the woman shows up for a visit, and it slowly moves from a polite-yet-awkward meeting to a brutal confrontation.
There were a few lackluster performances, and there were limitations presented by the venue, but overall I found it a very nice time. Bella Donna was a fun, campy hostess. There was one actor who played two roles, and in one was merely adequate (the father in the first part) and was a blast in the second (the stuttering husband in the second). I guess he's better with comedy. They cannily under-lit the third play (dim lights and onstage oil lamps), which helped downplay obvious makeup. One actress was great as a wife in the second (doing a mix of Joan Rivers and Fran Drescher, in a role of a working class girl married into nobility) and as the acid-throwing lover in the third act.
Best line of the show was from Bella Donna: "I love the smell of vitriol in the evening!"
The biggest problem was that it was a bit overhyped. Handing out barf bags was cute but seemed to promise there would be more to the show than what was there. It was also advertised as "A Grand Guignol, DC Sick Cabaret" which wasn't so bad, but it overall just didn't strike me as all that cabaret-ish.
Still, can't wait for the next show, The Sticking Place, this summer.
The show was in the back room of a bar/restaurant, the 1409 Playbill Cafe, so it was very limited seating. But you could get a drink at the bar and carry it in. They also hand out barf bags with the programs but that's more of a publicity gimmick than anything necessary. (Unlike the trash bags handed out at performances of the late great Cherry Red company, which often featured spurting stage blood. I have a shirt that still has stains.)
The show is hosted by a lingerie-clad Evira-ish lady named Bella Donna, who introduces each segment. It's three short plays from the original Grand Guignol theater.
The first is "The Lighthouse Keepers," by Paul Autier and Paul Cloquemin, about a father and son manning a lighthouse. There's some tension in the air, with the son's restlessness and desire for adventure, and the father's bitterness over his other son's death at sea, but it gets nice and gory as the son reveals he was bitten by a rabid dog and is starting to go mad...
Second is "Tics, or Doing the Deed," by Rene Berton. A farcical play about infidelity, it deals more with comic grotesquerie than blood and horror. Two couples gather for what is supposed to be a civilized evening. One husband, a doctor, is quizzed by the other husband about a strange nervous tic...he stutters for about ten minutes after having sex. The doc reveals his right leg trembles uncontrollably after sex, for about the same time. Of course, there's loads of bawdy humor, an "ugly" maid who's really a man in drag, and a final scene in which everyone's bizarre tics come forth. Actually quite funny.
Last up was "The Final Kiss," by Maurice Level. A heavily bandaged man sits in a room, attended by a doctor. We learn that a jealous woman disfigured him with acid, but he's very calm and civilized, saying he forgives her. Eventually, the woman shows up for a visit, and it slowly moves from a polite-yet-awkward meeting to a brutal confrontation.
There were a few lackluster performances, and there were limitations presented by the venue, but overall I found it a very nice time. Bella Donna was a fun, campy hostess. There was one actor who played two roles, and in one was merely adequate (the father in the first part) and was a blast in the second (the stuttering husband in the second). I guess he's better with comedy. They cannily under-lit the third play (dim lights and onstage oil lamps), which helped downplay obvious makeup. One actress was great as a wife in the second (doing a mix of Joan Rivers and Fran Drescher, in a role of a working class girl married into nobility) and as the acid-throwing lover in the third act.
Best line of the show was from Bella Donna: "I love the smell of vitriol in the evening!"
The biggest problem was that it was a bit overhyped. Handing out barf bags was cute but seemed to promise there would be more to the show than what was there. It was also advertised as "A Grand Guignol, DC Sick Cabaret" which wasn't so bad, but it overall just didn't strike me as all that cabaret-ish.
Still, can't wait for the next show, The Sticking Place, this summer.
