Horror, with a side of hilarity
With Halloween just around the corner, Séance 13 has exactly the right vibe going on.
Hamtramck’s venerable Planet Ant opened its 20th, yes 20th season on Friday with the equally scary and hilarious horror spoof.
A warning: This critic’s review might be slightly influenced by the unexpected offering of Polish Village eats served up to playgoers after the premiere. The sold-out house gobbled up pierogies, stuffed cabbage, kielbasa and sauerkraut. Don’t look for the grub at future shows, however. It was so very Hamtramck. Maybe Planet Ant ought to consider pulling a “Dio” and become a dinner theatre?
Back to the play. Where to begin? The premise is hilarious: Two hipsters buy a haunted house and when hipster bride gets pregnant, it’s with the seed of the demon who haunts the house (and kills anyone who dares stick around.)
Bracken (Sean McGettigan) and Astrid (Lauren Bickers) are both artists who are keen on repurposing. Even when their whack-a-doodle realtor Honey (Tara Rase) discloses the 52 murders committed at the house (“an average of only a couple a year” considering the years the house sat empty, she says) they aren’t put off. It might have something to do with being members of the Satanic Temple (but not Satanists…apparently there’s a difference).
McGettigan and Bickers both nail the affected vibe. Although McGettigan lacks the compulsory hipster beard, his topknot hairstyle makes up for it. Dyan Bailey, who plays Chelsea, the cop who ends up in the mental hospital after witnessing the last round of murders, has great comedic timing. Michael Hovitch (Ron) shines in the part of the creepy neighbor turned goat-sacrificing exorcist pastor.
However, it might be Cara Trautman, with her Madonna-like, affected, kind-of-English accent who steals the show. She plays Daphne, who survived the last round of murders as a child and went on to become a best-selling author and demonologist. Trautman, on a mission to destroy the demon at any cost, partners with Chelsea, who is still tormented by her lack of success in foiling the demon the last time around).
The play, which is written by the cast and director, flows seamlessly from scene to scene. If not for those needing a bathroom break, the intermission is hardly wanted or needed. Perhaps a testament to the audience’s enthrallment is that at the end of the show, even after the lights come up, no one is quick to leave their seats. It takes director Shawn Handlon coming out and saying “That’s it, it’s over, you can leave now!” to get us moving toward the Polish feast in the back yard.
Other behind-the-scene credits and kudos go to Ryan Fisher, stage manager; Jennifer Maiseloff , set designer; Artemis McGettigan ,artist and Christina Tomilson, costume designer.
The expertly handled lights and sound are noteworthy, especially the sound, which added immensely to the “scary” factor (the music was spot on and the demon’s voice was well executed.)
It might not be giving too much away to say things end roughly as they begin, when some thrill-seeking teens sneak into the house, unoccupied at the time, and hold a séance in which their fate, a la “Scream” or “Friday the 13th,” is foretold by a Ouija board. You don’t need a Ouija board to guess how “Séance 13” turns out, but that’s almost beside the point when you’re laughing up to the end. With a side of pierogies, kielbasa and sauerkraut.