‘Red Death’ production lacks obvious direction

October 14, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

By STEPHANIE OTTEY

YOUNGSTOWN

In the spirit of Halloween, The Victorian Players is staging Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” adapted and directed by J.E. Ballantyne Jr.

Coming off of the highly successful “The Odd Couple,” The Victorian Players takes a slight step backward with this production.

Perhaps opening night of “Red Death” came too quickly after the closing of “The Odd Couple” to make a smooth transition, but this production lacks the focus that is usually so clear on the Victorian stage.

Ballantyne’s adaptation is unique and clever. Instead of sticking strictly to the original short story, he incorporates ingredients from some of Poe’s other tales so that the result has a more stage-friendly plot than “Red Death” alone.

With fragments of “Hop Frog” and other stories, the show turns into this:

To start, a group of men sit at a table sharing the tall tales of Prince Prospero. This opening scene serves as a prologue to tie Poe’s tales together. Bits and pieces are sampled to weave a background for the haunted Prince.

Once this explanation is set, we meet Prince Prospero as he decides to lock his subjects in “The Abbey” with himself in order to avoid the red death. Soon, he entertains everyone with a masquerade ball. At the ball Prospero’s guests are treated to moments of horror taken from Poe’s other works that, again, add some interest to the original story.

This molded plot makes the show dramatic, but the production lacks an obvious direction.

In his notes, Ballantyne explains that parts may be “hokey” in a nod to the campy horror flicks that typically decorate the Halloween season.

Indeed, cast members speak in choppy, dull voices reminiscent of low-budget film “bad acting,” and all on-stage deaths are melodramatic, but the overall presentation would have benefited had that concept been pushed even more. Instead, it is married to the standard Victorian players “period” piece feel, and the two styles don’t mesh well.

A projector adds to the film feel by playing opening and closing credits, but is moderately distracting as the play goes on.

The show could also have used a more abstract design aesthetic. The story of “The Red Death” leaves a beautifully blank canvas for a lighting designer to work on, and unfortunately nobody does so here.

Though these kinks need some work, the cast is clearly prepared on opening night. Appearing confident and deliberate on stage, this large cast includes Kathryn T. Adams, Steven Adams, Audrey Allen, Ashley Balas, Chris Chaibi, Vinnie Dragos, C. Richard Haldi, Brandi Hughes, Gerri Jenkins, Brittiani L. Ketcham, Josh Lankford, Sam Luptak Jr., Ryan Newell, Ed O’Malley, Dave Wolford and Donny Wolford, with narration provided by Craig Conrad.

“The Masque of the Red Death” runs through Oct. 28 on The Victorian Players stage at 702 Mahoning Ave. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. There will be midnight performances Friday and Oct. 27. For ticket information, call 330-746-5455.