West Hollywood, California (December 14, 2009) - Name your poison – chances are Absinthe, Opium and Magic will have just what you like! 
WeHo News. |
In today’s economy – and especially during this holiday season -- everyone is looking to get the best value for his buck.
Theatrically speaking, the biggest return for your entertainment dollar this month is the latest production from Debbie McMahon’s Grand Guignolers troupe, now performing through January 3 at Art/Works Theatre in Hollywood.
A Note from the producer - "Our show Absinthe, Opium and Magic: 1920s Shanghai was reviewed by
your paper and we are extending our show to January 23 due to sell out shows.
This colorful, bursting spectacular not only has a little bit of everything – dancing, music, puppetry, drama, performance art, comedy and the giggle-and-squirm-inducing gore the company is known for – but it very effectively transports you to another time and place: 1920s Shanghai.
The show begins as you enter the lobby, dressed as a French ship port to Shanghai. Actors in costume offer “cruise photos,” absinthe and tea. Inside the house, early birds are treated to a pre-show of comedic dance and mime.
Once “on board,” we’re transported to the dark, dangerous and decadent city of the Orient – which, with its opium gangs and prostitutes, turns out to be an ideal setting for McMahon & Co.’s particular brand of theatrical hi-jinks.
Photo from Absinthe, Opium and Magic. WeHo News. |
The stage explodes with beautiful, colorful and authentic costumes (by Meera Rangachar), and with the energy of the show’s performers. Scenes change at a rapid pace, and the company manages an astonishingly fluid and complex dance with ever-changing, imaginative backdrops, curtains and set pieces.
How they manage this in a black box with no risers is a testament to the troupe’s discipline and ingenuity.
After the ship docks in Shanghai (thanks to the hilarious mime Ember Knight, who functions as a silent MC of sorts), we follow a stowaway (McMahon) as she wanders into a magic shop, smokes opium, and explores the contents of a magician’s trunk.
The action then cuts to storyteller Dani O’Terry, as she urgently relays the tragic tale “Sing Song Girl Sings Last Song”(written by McMahon). Behind O’Terry’s forceful delivery, the cast silently enacts the story of rival Chinese gangsters and the virginal geisha-like whore in what can only be described as a ballet/mime.
The cast excels in this sequence, frequently breaking out in unison into slow-motion fight sequences, then back into real time, seamlessly. One wonders how many hours of rehearsal were required to pull off such a lovely, prolonged and fluid dance piece.
Photo by WeHo News. |
Amanda Street, Tina Van Berckelaer, Elizabeth Weisbaum, Robin Long and particularly Dinah Steward shine as the “Sing Song Girls,” and are equally matched by Zachary Tatum-Nolan, Zachary Foulkes, Patrick Humphrey, Justin Waggle and Roy Starr.
Each inch of the stage is alive during the climatic Night Club scene, with bursts of colorful fans, dance and fight choreography. That nobody is injured during the melee is another testament to this company’s skill.
A brief, hilarious French puppet show (with cello, natch) follows. And then, the Grand Guignolers perform a more traditional one-act, “The Cabinet of Hands” (written by Chris Bell). Two spoiled, square French kids (Robin Long and Zachary Foulkes) search the dark streets of Shanghai, hoping to be “bad.”
They stumble into the opium den of a mysterious old woman (the wonderful Kevin Dulude) who’s only too happy to oblige.
As the audience realizes the old woman’s plan, then watch as she slowly executes her bloody, ghoulish scheme, the crowd squirmed, giggled, screamed and tried to look away. But the realism was too much to resist.
You have to give their special effects folks a “hand.”
Photo by WeHo News. |
The evening closes with “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” (created by McMahon from the story by Goethe, and brilliantly choreographed by Jeanne Simpson).
Back at the magic shop, our opium-smoking stowaway has discovered a magic cape and a seemingly endless supply of absinthe, a vengeful six-foot magician’s rabbit and a friendly Chinese dragon. The well-directed chaos that ensues had the audience howling and cheering – and provides a tour de force performance for the amazingly talented McMahon.
The cast gathers on stage at the end for yet another cleverly manic dance/performance piece as curtain call, and then tosses candy to the audience as they “depart.”
As you leave, you feel you really have been transported to another place and time, and thoroughly (almost exhaustively) entertained. What more can you expect for the price of a theatre ticket?
This show is not appropriate for children.
Co-produced by [via] Corpora. Performances through January 23 at Art/Works Theatre, 6569 Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood. For tickets, go to brownpapertickets.com/event/82322 or call 1-800-838-3006.
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