Spooky Movie Month Day #14 – Tales Of Horror And Suspense – Live Theatre Edition

October 14th

Today was a work day for the family where we go visit the grandparents and help them around the house. We almost had to miss Spooky Movie Day today, but my nephew was in a performance at his college that just happened to be spooky. So, tonight is “Spooky Movie Month – Live Theatre edition!”

Tales Of Horror and Suspense 

The Tales of Horror and Suspense contained four short plays. First, Murder Trivia Party, was an original play written by Sebastian Hernandez. The story follows four strangers who discover they are related and have a shot at a large inheritance, only to find themselves trapped inside the trivia game of an insane person. The stakes are high – win or die. The story is dark, silly, fun and creative and provides a new, fresh, non-supernatural take on a theme we’ve seen in such films as House on Haunted Hill and The Haunting, among many others. The script was fun, dark, silly and jam-packed with pop culture references. I was impressed by each actor, how they uniquely embodied their characters and unapologetically carried this brutal story to their audience. 

Second, was Cask of Amontillado, an Edgar Allen Poe story adapted by Robert Mason. This story is one of betrayal and the dark cruelty of revenge. A quick story, but effective in its darkness and deadly tone. The short play featured only two actors and minimal scenery, but did credit to our favorite master of the written macabre. There was one scene I especially loved, where one character sneaks up on the other with dark intentions but then quickly abandons his thoughts and the audience is left anticipating the dark ending to come. Just the imagery of that moment was spectacular and gave the audience an understanding of who each of these people were. Brilliant.

The third was an adaptation of one of my favorite stories, The Monkey’s Paw, originally written by W.W. Jacobs and has been adapted hundreds of times over the years, this version was adapted by Jon Jory as a short, one act play. The overarching point? Be careful what you wish for – and HOW you wish for something. This stage version of the story, entitled simply Monkey Paw, finds the White family content, happy and loving. They want for nothing even though they have little. One day, the father’s friend stop’s by to share with them the story of the paw. They ask for it and are given a serious warning; “Throw it into the fire like a sensible man”. When they will not, their friend absolves himself of any responsibility for what may be to come and leaves them to their fate. Then family makes a modest wish, one that should have been easy… but instead, it changes they lives forever. 

There are only four actors in this play and my nephew portrayed Henry White, the father.

The play was full of tension, darkness and grief and left the audience breathless. Beautifully done, beautifully acted, truly an excellent piece. 

Last, the Call of Cthulhu, an original adaptation of Lovecraft’s famous story by Paul Jacques. An ominous tale of a dark terror lying sleeping… waiting… for one day when he will awaken and destroy all things. His followers and those who encounter them might be insane, dreaming, or immortal – we’re never really quite sure. What we do know is madness takes all in the wake of the sleeping god. This was a complex and innovative retelling of a novel that has fed countless fandoms with creative ideas since its original printing in 1926. The stage retelling kept the audience guessing with several quick changes, character shifts and dizzying descent into the madness of a malevolent universe waiting just beyond our consciousness. Proud of this cast and my friend who adapted an incredibly complex and drawn out story into a one act play! 

So, what were the kids’ reactions to this live horror performance? For one, it was easier when their cousin and many of our theatre friends were IN the performance. It helped provide a sense of ease even though the stories were anything but. 

Dragon’s perspective of the evening: They loved all four of them, especially the first and second, but Monkey Paw scared them. They were only eased by the fact that their cousin played the father and even then, it was hard to watch him go through the terror he experienced in the story. The fourth play has inspired Dragon to now read Lovecraft’s work, but mom isn’t quite sure if it’s time for that yet… Dragon struggled with having to watch the entire thing without the safety of their go-to calming tools. At home, they can move around, use calming devices, headphones, or watch from the other room half distracted by a game to cope with the anxiety of spookier stories. In a live performance, that is not possible and it was hard, but they managed with headphones and their phone set to calming music. That way, if they got overwhelmed, they could take a quiet break.

Lion thought the entire evening was amazing and awesome. They loved the comedy of the first one and how the murderer felt like they may have a been inspired by Beetlejuice. They loved the costumes and the casting, as well as the gunfire because it made it more real. They loved how the first one was funny and light-hearted but as we went on throughout the evening, the stories got more and more dark. They also loved the extreme panic and the frantic ending of Monkey Paw. It was sort of scary and sad throughout, but once terrible truth of their wish was revealed, the combination of the pounding and the screaming became terrifying. When I checked in to see if they were okay during the show, they responded with ‘YES THAT WAS AMAZING!!”

Overall, we left happy, sufficiently spooked and ready to turn in, grateful for our lives and how we don’t have a monkey paw to wish on. They both also determined they preferred the far less scary Star Wars Lego version of The Monkey’s Paw, “The Wookie’s Paw”.

Four thumbs up – and you can still catch this live performance if you’re in the area Sunday the 15th at 2pm! Details are here and the full program of the cast and crew are below!

Tomorrow will be a busy day with a family gathering and things to catch up on, so I have no current idea what we’ll be watching. Join us again tomorrow to see what we decided on!