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Frankenstein by Dangerous Productions
Photo by Dan Norman |
Our weekend at the
Twin Cities Horror Festival continues with productions by three TCHF favorites: Dangerous Productions, Oncoming Productions, and The Winding Sheet Outfit.
Just to recap:
Why We Love TCHF,
Day One,
Day Two, and our
TCHF archives.
Saturday. DAY THREE.
Frankenstein
Dangerous Productions
I hesitate to say much about this show, since the way things are revealed is a great part of the scary fun. The story is told out of order, as if being relived in a characters head. The intricate script and some nifty work with handheld lights make for an unsettling experience in the best possible way. Inspired by Mary Shelley's famous novel, this
Frankenstein finds a new way to tell the story, and since it's from Dangerous Productions, there's a fair amount of blood and gore. The performers were all excellent, and the staging is impressive. If you're looking for something scary and different, this is a great bet.
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Ah, there's the blood. Frankenstein by Dangerous Productions
Photo by Dan Norman |
Geminae
Oncoming Productions
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Geminae by Oncoming Productions
Photo by Dan Norman |
In
Geminae, astronaut Cassie is on a solo space mission that goes awry. Her sister Helen, working from the ground, tries to bring her home, but Cassie is alone. Or is she? This production was originally mounted at the 2018 Fringe Festival, but this was our first viewing. The space effects are neat, and there are some interesting character dynamics, but the eventual supernatural element feels a little underthought. The performances are very good all around, especially from Victoria Pyan as Helen and Leslie Vincent as Cassie, who beautifully depict the relationship between sisters.
...And What Alice Found There
The Winding Sheet Outfit
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OMG, these masks! ...And What Alice Found There by
The Winding Sheet Outfit. Photo by Dan Norman |
The Winding Sheet Outfit creates works that examine historical events and people, and we've enjoyed their work, though we couldn't get tickets to their hit 2019 Fringe show,
You Are Cordially Invited to the Life and Death of Edward Lear, which took home two Golden Lanyard awards. Now the company looks at the relationship between Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, and Alice Pleasance Liddell, the girl who first heard the stories that would later be published as
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The show raises more questions than it answers, in a roundabout way that seems to mimic the twists and turns in the mind of Dodgson, played by Kristina Fjellman. The supporting cast of six women play Alice and her sisters, as well as everyone else. And when confronting Dodgson, they sing a discordant setting of one of his poems to a tune that was still running through my head days later. Creepy and fun!
(Jules)
