Tag: halloween

Twin Cities Horror Festival XIII Day 8 Review: Schaulust

With this final show I have attended all of the TCHF XIII productions and yet somehow I still didn’t get a Bingo. Oh well, sometimes it just isn’t in the cards. Besides I think the prize was a toothbrush and who the hell wants that, am I right? We want candy!!! I have to say that for the first time in my TCHF attendance which began in 2019, there wasn’t a single show that I had to write a bad review about. Hey they weren’t all great, but there wasn’t a bad one in the bunch. The more amazing thing, and what shows that this years producers were real risk takers, is that Allison Vincent wasn’t in any of them. Last year that was the one ingredient that guaranteed a hit show, so for no one to have cast her in a show was a very ballsy move. You can read my reviews of everyone of the productions in this years festival which continues through 11/4/24 at The Stages of MN. For more information and to purchase tickets to the remaining shows go to https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/

Schaulust written and performed by Keith Hovis is part musical, part horror show, and all character study of an unstable mind. Hovis plays Wyatt a man who likes to watch, not in a creepy sexual way, but in a creepy everyday kind of way. He describes how it led to his break up with his boyfriend, though it wasn’t the watching part, the boyfriend was fine with that, it was something else, his need to not be needed. After the break up he finds a couple of people online who need money and agree to install a camera in their homes so he can watch them in exchange for money. Again not in a creepy sexcam way, just watch them playing video games, cutting their nails, sleeping on the couch. I’m not sure who to credit with the scenic design but it’s extremely well done. Wyatt’s home is a window into his fraying and disintegrating mental health. You can see the benefit of Schaulust playing in the Studio space, it has allowed for a fairly elaborate design, which really does inform our understanding of the narrator. It’s also one of the handful of shows that has some real horror elements, which I always think is a nice touch at the horror fest. It’s well written and acted, Hovis’ performance is all in and his songs were perfectly suited to the material. It’s one of the most polished and effective shows of the entire festival and I can say that because I saw them all!

Terrified of missing reviews from The Stages of MN? Do you find yourself afraid and all alone in the dark when all your friends are talking about that great new play that you didn’t even know about? Never fear, that need never happen again. Now you too can subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN sent directly to your email box. No more hoping the algorithm works in your favor and you actually see a post on facebook or Instagram. No relying on so-called friends to tip you to the best shows in town. To subscribe on your computer: from the home page on the right, enter your email address and click subscribe. On your mobile device scroll to the bottom of the page and do the same. You can also follow me on Facebook, @thestagesofmn click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn. You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/ from time to time.

Broomstick Sweeps in the Witching Season at Open Eye Theatre

Cheryl Willis Photo by Bruce Silcox

Broomstick by John Biguenet and designed and directed by Joel Sass will get you in the mood for Monster Month! It is a monologue show that runs about 90 minutes, no intermission, in which a Witch speaks directly to us in the audience as if we are one of the children she took in long ago and who ran away after a “misunderstanding”. Cheryl Willis doesn’t just play one, she really is a Witch! I know because I witnessed her cast a spell over the entire audience. She spins her tales like a spider a web, drawing you ever inward until you are entirely captive to her appetite. Willis is absolutely mesmerizing surrounded by Joel Sass’ always stunning and detailed sets, she moves from one reminiscences to another speaking always in rhyme. The marriage of atmosphere and Willis’s witchy vocalizations at once playful, almost childlike, then underlined the next moment with a tone of menacingly dark humor. It is a marriage of performer and role that comes along only a few times a year. More than just storytelling this is an experience, Playwright Biguenet has written the audience into the script and Willis draws us into our roles like lambs to the slaughter. I have not the words to describe Willis’ accent, something celtic perhaps, but whatever it is, it’s devine. I could have listened to her for another hour. The character she creates is complicated, understanding, devious, sentimental, questioning, innocent, treacherous, and deadly all conveyed with the skillful inflections of Willis masterfully controlled voice.

If you are looking for something that’s funny without being a comedy, scary without being gross or horrifying, Broomstick is the show for you. Here are a group of theater artists that do what Open eye does better than any other theater their size, make every aspect of production work perfectly together and make it look like a million dollar show. Lighting Designer Kathy Maxwell, Costume Designer Claire Looker, and Sound Designer C. Andrew Mayer all put their mark on the show. It sounds and looks fantastic, which is one of the things I cherish most about Open Eye Theatre. Broomstick runs through October 31st at Open Eye Theatre in South Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.openeyetheatre.org/broomstick

Tired of missing reviews from The Stages of MN? Do you find yourself left out when all your friends are talking about that great new play that you didn’t even know about? Never fear, that need never happen again. Now you too can subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN sent directly to your email box. No more hoping the algorithm works in your favor and you actually see a post on facebook or Instagram. No relying on so-called friends to tip you to the best shows in town. To subscribe on your computer: from the home page on the right, enter your email address and click subscribe. On your mobile device scroll to the bottom of the page and do the same. You can also follow me on Facebook, @thestagesofmn click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn. You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/ from time to time.