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47 WAYS TO DIE
What Horrors Lie Before You
By LAURA DARGUS
del.ico.us
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What's being billed on TheaterMania.com as a take on The Gashlycrumb Tinies is actually more a pageant celebrating the dramatic interpretation of death. Director Cheryl Turski filled us in on the Gorey [Ew.—Ed.] details.
"The concept of the show was actually inspired by a production of Richard III [ITurski saw] in Russia," she says. "In it, all the murders occurred onstage in gorgeous, elaborate ways." Not all the deaths were logical, nor did they make any real-world sense— ""It was possible to die from being drenched in red wine. Getting wet became a shockingly violent act." The morbidity was catching. "I fell in love and wanted to do a show based on the idea that death onstage is more interesting, and sometimes more visceral, when it is not realistic."
Leading you through the dirge will be Turski, your emcee for the evening, no stranger to the stage herself. A graduate of the A.R.T. Institute—and currently a teacher and choreographer with the school—Turski makes her directorial debut Wednesday Thursday night. She conceived of the show's concept (a "horror cabaret") and set out to find a cast to collaborate with. "I started with a handful of ideas I liked, cast some fabulously talented actors, and we worked together to create the piece. Almost nothing I originally planned on for the show is currently in it, and I am all the happier because of it." She also hopes the piece continues to evolve with subsequent stagings. "The rehearsal process was quite a bit of play and experimenting."
Set to music (though not a musical itself), Turski encourages those in attendance to carouse. "I hope the audience feels like they are out for a drink with friends, but there is something to watch at the same time ... as opposed to sitting quietly in a theater." And the choice of venue (not unfamiliar to Turski, a current cast member of The Donkey Show) in the newly renovated Club Oberon will only help propel her vision. And, in case you've forgotten the show's name and theme for the evening, Turski's called on a zombie "corps" to inhabit the space throughout the production.
Though this staging of 47 Ways to Die is a limited run, Turski would like to see her baby grow and change. "I would be thrilled to have local live bands be a part. The show is malleable enough to accommodate a wide range of local talent, and I sincerely hope for future collaborations as the show progresses." And we wouldn't want to see someone's creative energy meet an untimely death, now would we?
47 WAYS TO DIE
WEDNESDAY THURSDAY 10.8.09
CLUB OBERON
2 ARROW ST., HARVARD SQ.
CAMBRIDGE
866.811.4111
10:30PM/$15, $10 STUDENTS
CLUBOBERON.COM
