Bonehouse/Outsider Two One Act Plays From Ghoulish Delights at the Crane Theatre

* Disclaimer: On March 28th I suffered a rupture in my right bicep muscle, which has left me without the use of my right arm. I will endeavor to continue seeing and reviewing shows however the reality is that the reviews will need to be significantly shorter. For now I will attempt to provide you, faithful readers, with a few sentences that will make clear whether a show is worth your time and money. My apologies to all of the artists in front of the curtain as well as behind whose work I may not be able to comment on. Hopefully this will be a short-term accommodation, I will do everything in my power to get back to writing full reviews as soon as is humanly possible.

Ghoulish Delights is the theater company behind the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society (MORLS) podcast and live shows. In fact the first of the two one act plays in this current production Bonehouse by Kendra Fanconi is a story I first heard via the MORLS. I don’t think it was a regular podcast I think it was a Patreon extra. It’s told from the perspective of young boy played by Xan Mattek who lives in a small town with a secret. The character recounts his numerous attempts to escape the town which are always thwarted by his fellow townspeople. The second story Outsider is by H.P. Lovecraft and is told from the point of view of Tim Uren’s character who speaks of existence totally in darkness in a castle from which he longs to escape. Uren narrates the characters circumstances and eventual escape from his dark prison, but what new horrors await in the outer world? I enjoyed both acts but I’m conscious of the fact that they’re not for everyone. They rely heavily on the spoken word and an audience for whom language and ideas are as effective at creating a world in their mind as seen action is. Fans of the MORLS podcast will feel right at home with these as they are use to creating that theater of the mind imagery.

Mattek has the always tricky task of an adult playing in adolescent, but she does a solid job of carrying the play and not falling into the trap of playing the role too childishly. Uren for his part is squarely in his element in a role reminiscent of his one man portion of Ghoulish Delights’ Rattus Rattus “The Rats in the Walls” from a couple of years ago. Dence with heightened language which verbally creates an atmosphere of ancient darkness and dread. The velvety descriptions flow from his mouth like blood from a head wound, freely and ceaselessly until the moment they coagulate in his throat in a moment of dawning horror. Uren does the great job of physically realizing this character that has been twisted and shriveled hidden away from the world outside. The cast is rounded out in each play by the Reverend Matt Kessen, at least that’s how I think of him, and Ariel Pinkerton. The duo play various Town Folk in Bonehouse and share bits of the narration with your Uren in The Outsider, well also stage managing the small but effective Scenic Design. Extra shout out here to Pinkerton aside from performing in both one acts, also ran the box office, sold concessions, and was responsible for the production design and construction, undoubtedly sewing costumes and carrying the cast across raging rivers in a thunderstorm. I may have made up that last part but I wouldn’t be surprised.

The program runs around 1 hour total with no intermission, each one act ends right when it should, they are nice short digestible but dark stories. Those who’ve read H.P. Lovecraft may share my view that a little is really effective, but a lot can be very draining. For more information and to purchase tickets to Bonehouse/Outsider go to https://www.ghoulishdelights.com/shows/

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