Bonehouse / Outsider - Ghoulish Delights

Another new-to-me theatre group with the wonderful name Ghoulish Delights opened a double bill tonight at the Crane Theater. The show is billed as "Bonehouse / Outsider" with the first play being a play by Kendra Fanconi, and the second being an adaptation of a H.P. Lovecraft work. Both works, in my view, deal with being an outsider and not fitting into society. It is a feeling that most artists will claim, but at the same point it is a common enough feeling that stories about it become universal.

Each work is performed by three performers, and they are performed back to back with no intermission. Bonehouse, the original work by Fanconi, is directed by Tim Uren. The main character, a boy named Eero, is played by Xan Mattek. Assisting them in the telling of the story is Matt Kessen (Reverend Matt with the Monster Science), and Ariel Pinkerton. This is a great Midwestern story about a young boy who lives in a small town and feels, believes that there is something out there beyond the town. However every time he runs away, he is dragged back and punished. At the same time, no reason is given as to why he is being forced to live there. It is a interesting story, one that a lot of us can probably relate to, yet also feels very particular to small Midwest town life. 

The second piece is an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's short story "The Outsider." The premise is a man who has lived in a tower for as long as he can recall. He has never been outside, and all he can see from the windows are trees. However he has glimpsed that there is another tower nearby if he could escape the one he is in. Tim Uren plays the man, and again is assisted by Kessen and Pinkerton. The language of Lovecraft remains and it felt like a good storytelling session, with an ending that might shock some, but may get figured out by others. Either way, both stories work well together in telling the stories of someone feeling like they don't belong. Sometimes with works like this, where there is one primary narrator telling the story, while also showing the story, the performance can get bogged down in either telling or showing.  Mattek and Uren know how to utilize the space and draw the audience into the story they are telling. At the same time they know how to show/perform the story they are telling. Both performances were perfect matches.

The performances took place in the studio space at Crane Theater. It is an intimate setting that seats maybe 30 people at the most. The performance was done in the round so be aware that you will have actors very close to you at times. While I wouldn't classify either of these works as "horror" theater, they were unsettling...which was a nice thing to experience. Go support local, and take in this show at the Crane!