What I liked
Direction wise the show moves at a lightning pace which makes the roughly 80 minute show feel like an hour. The practical effects like blood and lighting flashes create jarring yet hilarious pictures on stage. There were so many moments throughout that I thought to myself “Gotta remember to try that out in my own productions.” The show feels like Evil Dead in catholic school girl skirts.
The female characters in this play are undoubtably the lifeblood not just script wise but performance wise as well. Tessa Nesbet as “Bunny” is this wonderfully naive person that is the source of so many of the shows laughs. Tessa creates a wonderful counterbalance to the equally excellent performance of Molly Bibeau who plays the character “Ashley”- creating an oddly lovable and quite frankly, insane duo. Molly makes this over achieving, supremely devout school girl, someone we can all pretty much remember from our own lives. The two of them together are just wonderful.
Jeanne Carr is the heavy weight that grounds this show- even in her own absurd existence. Speaking as a fellow actor, Jeanne is effortless throughout cartwheels of emotion and thought that the character of “Darlene” goes through. At one moment you feel that she is the no nonsense grit that the two leads must overcome and in the next you see she might be the most disturbed out of the whole ensemble which is truly a feat in and of itself.
Now every great show needs a villain, and in this show I felt that an integral message in the writing is that the villain is actually who we need to bring balance to this absurd world. Morgan Smalley goes absolutely OFF as “Stephie”. Without spoiling some pretty wild revelations about the character, Morgan embodies the true chaos of the supernatural and leaves the audience eagerly awaiting her next mammoth sized action in the plot. Again, without spoiling, her first piece of text is an absolutely f****** incredible minute and a half of pure chaos.
What I didn't like
Honestly, It’s a great time. I think writing wise there is an opportunity to do more with the characters of Ashley and Bunny which is the result of the great work the two actors did with them, but as is this show is excellent.
My overall impression
A really tight ensemble piece about irredeemable characters that has you actually rooting for the devil- a really fun slice of absurdity and comedy in a macabre and disturbing world.
