[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of A HAUNTING REVUE – three short plays by Richard James Page, Aditya Putcha and Tennessee Williams.
It might not be the usual time of year for the macabre and the sinister, but in NoHo – which is, let’s face it, full of ghosts – the time is always ripe for a scare or two!
A HAUNTING REVUE is three plays: the iconic Suddenly Last Summer by Tennessee Williams, La Mano Del Mono, adapted from the short story by WW Jacob and the original, The Inheritance of Dracula. All deeply creepy, all fascinating examinations of the human inexplicable tendency to fear and danger and morbid curiosity.
Of course, Suddenly Last Summer is well known and frequently emulated. In this version, the performance of Violet Venable by Aditya Putcha in strange and eerie pale makeup, sitting toad-like in a wheelchair immediately brings a sickness to the stage. While the story revolves around Violet Venable, trying to convince a doctor to lobotomise her recently widowed daughter-in-law to prevent her from telling everyone how and why her debauched husband, whom his mother was suffocatingly devoted to, actually died. That is, beaten to death and partially eaten. The doctor instead believes the widow and prevents a further tragedy. It’s the telling of the horrific truth and the unfettered, twisted anger it unleashes that ‘haunts’ the audience. It’s a story about bigotry and the repellent nature of the southern elite family it chronicles. Weirdly wonderful!
La Mano Del Mono is a retelling of another vintage horror tale. The Monkey’s Paw. A traveller visits the family of his friend and brings as a gift a mummified monkey’s paw. The legend attached to it, something he is clearly very happy to be rid of, is that it will grant you three wishes, but in return for granting your desires, you will lose something dear to you. Not believing, the father asks for money and then throws the paw into the fire. In the morning ,he is visited by an insurance man who gives him a check for the death of his only son, who has been crushed beyond recognition. Mortified, he wishes his dead son back to life at the behest of his family. When an ominous pounding on their door wakes them from their sleep, he knows he cannot face the deformed, reanimated son outside and wishes for him to be gone. His final wish. And the hardest one of all. It’s a strange and chilling story very well played.
The final play is an original, The Inheritance of Dracula. Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee meet one evening and discuss their work, their lives and their legacy. It’s a really fascinating proposition, these two masters of their craft in a room together, two monsters, two actors, two men. We are so used to the myth and mystery of these larger-than-life humans that it’s easy to imagine them as they are here, in this wonderfully written and beautifully acted play. It’s an homage to their work, of course, but it’s also a lot like fan art. Which I loved actually. The actors were very entertaining, sincere and believable. This last play was a lovely way to round out the evening after the two much more frightening pieces. Bringing us back to the storytelling, so to speak.
A Haunting Revue was very enjoyable and thoughtfully done. I would love to see more from this group of talented actors and writers, perhaps something in October during the season of ghosts and ghouls and monsters?
Bravo to all!!
A Haunting Revue Cast
Aditya Putcha, Brendan Getches, Victoria Vann, Christine Viviers, Debi Key-Velez, Richard James Page, Jean Murillo, Luc Rosenthal, Lola Buckland, Morry Schorr, Ari Litman-Weinberg.
A Haunting Revue Team
Directed by Richard James Page. Produced by Brendan Getches. Lighting and sound design by Jimmy Morgan.