Something Wicked Stage Review

AUTUMN BREEZES
FROM SANTA MONICA

Brad Linaweaver's review of Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury's Pandemonium Theatre Company) Edgemar Center For The Arts 2437 Main Street, Santa Monica, played from Oct. 4^th through Nov. 8^th, Thursday through Saturday and Sundays

This theatrical production of Ray Bradbury's classic novel of Halloween is a tribute to all participants. Director Alan Neal Hubbs oversees his players with the same diligence as Mr. Dark guiding the motions of the tormented souls that make up his carnival of the damned. Unlike the Autumn People who must return to dust when the show is over the Pandemonium Theatre Players are destined to remain in the light of many worthwhile productions.

Ray Bradbury has been seeing to it personally that his finest work is put on stage for audiences who can appreciate that there is more going on in L.A. than just movie deals. If Hollywood plays tricks on important books when adapting them to the screen then live theater offers the treat of getting the point of the story.

Something Wicked This Way Comes is the strongest statement Bradbury has ever made that when the storyteller offers the poison of fright in one hand there should be an antidote in the other hand for those with the wit to make use of it. This current production pays attention to what the author is actually saying.

As for the mechanics of the show, this reviewer has never seen set pieces and large props shifted around so smoothly. The placement of the characters is dramatic. The human carousel alone is worth the price of admission.

Performances are excellent across the board. The easiest roles to bungle would have been the young men playing young boys; but Grady Hutt as Will Halloway and J. Skylar Testa as Jim Nightshade (the yin and yang of Bradbury's adolescence) never failed to convince.

Meanwhile, the key adult roles are just as solid. Mark Aaron as the demonic Mr. Dark and Jay Gerber as Will's Dad match the tremendous performances of Jonathan Pryce and the late Jason Robards in the Disney film. (Hollywood doesn't always get it wrong.) When ageless evil faces mortal good the results are so dramatic that one doesn't mind sucking up a moral or two.

Supporting cast members truly support the delicate moods on which this play is constructed. Priscilla Allen is reassuring and comforting as Miss Foley so that when she loses her adult authority along with chronological years, we feel real terror. (The actual child performances are first rate.) Felisa Kazen provides a standout performance as the Dust Witch. Of all the wicked characters, she is the most sympathetic because of the glass-blown fragility she brings to the part—torn between her fear of Dark's malevolence and Halloway's more powerful weapon of pure joy. She seems to glide across the stage as if a leaf caught in the October wind.

There really is no better way to celebrate this time of year than by patronizing the Edgemar Center For The Arts. Step right up and catch the show! While you're there, catch your reflection in the Hall of Mirrors—but be careful that you don't lose your soul. Carnivals are a serious business.

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Brad Linaweaver is an award-winning novelist who has done hundreds of shorter pieces, appearing in publications as diverse as Famous Monsters of Filmland and National Review. He's also worked in carnivals.