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‘Ghastly Dreadfuls’ at Center for Puppetry Arts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW. Grade: B. “The Ghastly Dreadfuls’ Compendium of Graveyard Tales and Other Curiosities”
Jon Ludwig and Jason von Hinezmeyer don’t need buckets of blood and fake cadavers to give you a chill.
“The Ghastly Dreadfuls’ Compendium of Graveyard Tales and Other Curiosities” —- their new spooky-season thriller at the Center for Puppetry Arts —- is a homage to the morbid splendor of 19th-century style horror, when creaking boards and mysterious graveyards had the power to suggest that there was something supernatural in the air.
Using a group of undead personalities called “dreadfuls” to present a series of music, dance and puppet vaudevilles, this cabaret-style evening dusts off classic thrillers by W.W. Jacobs and Mark Twain, unveils a handful of original tales and opens a gorgeously detailed curio cabinet of hand-made objects, outfits and (mostly) low-tech effects.
Among the things that go bump in the night are a jig by Spencer Stephens (aka Darkly Dreadful), set to the bone-rattlin’ tune “Mr. Ghost Goes to Town,” and the calypso-flavored ensemble piece, “Zombie Jamboree.”
But this is far from just a Halloween hootenanny. “Exotic Ghosts: The Creepy Compendium of International Ghouls From A to Z” is a superbly designed stop-action video by Kristin Jarvis that uses shadow puppets to unleash a virtual lexicon of frightening creatures from afar.
“The Ghost on the Trapeze” (by the company), “Le Danse Macabre” (set to Saint Saens) and Ludwig’s “The Deep End of the Pool” showcase the elegance of puppet designer von Hinezmeyer’s sculptural figures. (Von Hinezmeyer, by the way, portrays the skittish, Theremin-playing feline Catly Dreadful, while Ludwig is Simply Dreadful, the sniveling emcee in shredded Victorian formalwear.)
Jacobs’ “Three at Table,” in which a man lost in a snowstorm knocks on the door of an old woman’s lair, is among the most suspenseful of the tales —- with a menacing knife and a disfigured face worthy of “Dorian Gray.” But once the nasty business is out of the way, the story ends in reconciliation.
The most modern tale, adapted from Larry Letemplier’s “The Girl in the New Dress,” may be the most clever: a cartoon-style sequence employing rod puppets, cutouts and a scroll to unspool a Brian De Palma-meets-Alfred Hitchcock shocker. Russ Vick’s claustrophobic design is brilliant.
In parading such a range of material, “Ghastly Dreadfuls” sometimes feels a little cluttered, and the connecting commentaries a bit forced. But its sophisticated visual vocabulary, literary tone and overarching narrative conceit make it a true original. A smart Halloween show —- hey, that’s not dreadful at all.
THE 411: 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays; 5 p.m. Sundays; 11 p.m. Oct. 28 only. Through Oct. 29. $18-$22. Center for Puppetry Arts, 1404 Spring St., Midtown. 404-873-3391; puppet.org. Recommended for ages 16 and up.
THE VERDICT: Tingly magic.
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