Event

Grand Guignol

"The year is 1901. It's a warm summer evening in Paris, and you're sitting
at a café on a beautiful, quiet back street. You try to signal the waiter, but he seems to have disappeared... Then a maniac with a knife sits down at your table and begins to tell you a story."

April 3-5
The Kiss in the Dark
...in which lovers learn vitriolic revenge.
The Widow
...in which a guillotine threatens love.

April 10-12
The Castle of Slow Death
...in which the mystery of a Gold Rush era mansion is revealed.
Lighthouse Keepers
...in which a father and son battle life, death, and loneliness.
On the Telephone
...in which techonology betrays safety.

A staged reading of Jeff Resta's translation of five gory French tales from the early 1900's. Directed by Gillian Jorgensen.

Stage Manager, Jen Cabarrus
Assistant Director, Ellie McKay

Featuring: Wes Andrews, Trick Danneker, Gretchen Douma, Shannon Kipp, Christopher Langston, Colleen Robertson, James Weidman, and Amanda Lee Williams.

Although little-known to contemporary audiences, the shockingly graphic depictions of violence and gore that characterized the "Grand Guignol" theatre of the early 20th century continues to exert a recognizable, if little appreciated influence on modern dramatic conventions. But the genre was also notable for its eclectic juxtaposition of theatrical styles, as well as for addressing wider cultural and moral themes such as the dehumanizing effects of technology, and the increasing sense of social isolation that
resulted.