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| Goblin Universe. Photo-The Alley Theater |
By
Greg Paul
Directed
by Todd Zeigler
Reviewed
by Craig Nolan Highley
Entire
contents are copyright © 2013, Craig Nolan Highley. All rights reserved.
Those
who know me know what a fan I am of sci-fi and horror. Those are two genres
that are not well-served when it comes to live theater, and that’s why I’m such
a huge fan of The Alley Theater in general and their “Inhuman: A Festival of
New American Undead Theater” in particular.
In
its second year, the festival presents a series of plays featuring vampires,
zombies, and other things that go bump in the night. My little black heart
beats a little faster at the thought. On this past Saturday, I got to witness
one of the plays presented this season, and was re-introduced to the great H.P.
Lovecraft’s Old Ones. It was a welcome experience, to say the least.
Goblin Universe stars Sterling Pratt as
Miskatonic University graduate Howard Phillips (as Lovecraftian as they come),
a reporter on the trail of a cryptozooligical creature he has tracked to an
adult bookstore. He discovers the creature in the peep show booth disguised as
a stripper in a policewoman costume (Vanessa Card).
It
gets weirder. We soon find out that Phillips can see the Old Ones, Lovecraft’s
mythological beings who have existed longer than man’s history, older even than
Christianity. He lives with Loveland Frog (Todd Zeigler), an amphibious
creature that ends up sleeping with Phillips’ alcoholic landlady (Katie
Dearmond). In due course we also get introduced to the Mothman, the Jersey
Devil (both played by Dan Canon), and Bigfoot (Joey Arena), among others.
How
all of this ties in with a mentally unbalanced homeless man (James Reid) and the
adult bookstore’s proprietor (Lucien Tomes Jr.) must be seen to be believed.
More
of a comedy than a horror story, the play is nevertheless creepy and never
failed to hold my interest. The monster costumes were a bit crude, but the
masks were nicely detailed. The whole thing clipped along at a nice pace set by
director Zeigler, and featured an impressive sound design by Jon Ryan and Scott
Davis.
The
only thing that did not work for me was a rather silly attempt at a Morgan
Freeman impersonation that sounded more like Cleveland Brown. If this was
intentional, I didn’t get the joke.
Overall
though, this was a fun bit of unusual theater, leaving me wanting more.
Luckily, there are plenty more shows to see in this year’s Inhuman festival.
Bring ‘em on!
Starring
Joey Arena, Dan Canon, Vanessa Card, Scott Davis, Katie Dearmond, Sterling
Pratt, James Reid, Tony Smith, Lucien Tomes Jr., Todd Zeigler.
Goblin
Universe
Part
of Inhuman: A Festival of New American Undead Theatre
April
4-19, 2013
The
Alley Theater
1210
Franklin Street
Louisville,
KY 40206
502-713-6178
thealleytheater.org
Let's hope the other shows get reviewed, as well.
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