In Cup-A-Jo Productions’ most recent collaborative production—where audience members were immediately greeted with the aforementioned waiver to sign away your life (and maybe your soul, I have yet to determine that much)—Unhinged 2 took on the admittedly daunting challenge of creating a Halloween-themed/house of frights-esque show that encompasses multiple vignette-based performances and interactive audience immersion. Cup-A-Jo Productions, which has a history of exhilarating and innovative productions in the Pittsburgh theatre scene. Together with Aftershock Theatre and Pittsburgh Fringe, in the appropriately and thematically spooky, derelict social hall home of many productions in Lawrenceville, they have created an evening of well-coordinated, hauntingly original theatre that allowed a bevy of excellent actors to flex their more absurdly macabre chops.
Capitalizing on the drafty, creaky interior of the very-plausibly haunted church, the frightfully fun evening began with a delightful viewing of Vincent Santis’ short vampire-centric, nostalgically-styled silent film (which will play again on Halloween at midnight) as audience members wait to be led to their theatrical fate of the night. The masterful creative and technical team behind Unhinged, without spoiling too much of the fun of the show, cleverly utilized the eerie top floor of the building with an inventive take on “in the round” that keeps the audience physically and attentively engaged. Unhinged is comprised of five vignettes that each expertly employs gallows humor, perverse interpretations of folklore and urban myths, and enthusiastic commitment to each creepy tale. The most effective short in blending the banal dangers and dark humor of our hyper-modernized age was Tell Tale Alexa (written by Kim Z. Dale), a story which encompasses the awkwardness (but also inherent riskiness) of online dating, the entrapping strangeness of social mores, and the potential for intentionality and autonomy that the AI we create (Alexa, for example) have. Lacy Brooks and Chris Collier hilariously modernize the ambiance of Poe in a Tindr date gone catastrophically awry and perfectly set the tone for the raucously scary evening wrought with unexpected chills and laughs.
Much of the strength Unhinged lies in the conspicuous passion and enthusiasm that radiates from the actors and creative team involved. The reason that the shows within the show were able to range from political commentary/satire to damningly disturbing one-woman shows, to electrifyingly spontaneous interactive improv, was the commitment of all the actors involved that never once wavered or hinted at the outlandishness that is innate to all Halloween-centric theatre and entertainment. The reason a piece like Melanie’s Heart (written by Matt Henderson, one of the actors in several of the other pieces) came across so effectively was actresses Zilda Alvez and Bre Brown’s dogged commitment to their characters that thoroughly gripped and enthralled the audience (the wonderful writing played an instrumental role as well). Joanna Lowe, head creative force and the brain behind Cup-A-Jo, must be commended for her outstanding, exuberant passion that comes across not only in her performance in the final, skin-crawling piece of the evening, Lady M but in the unifying excitement that was an apparent catalyst for everyone involved.
Unhinged ultimately succeeds in creating a show that essentially combines every season of American Horror Story into one bizarre and wildly fun evening. This show not only demonstrates the amazing potential of collaborative theatre in Pittsburgh but the potential for spooky dramaturg to be a forceful element of the industry.
Unhinged 2 runs through November 3 at Aftershock Theater. For tickets and more information click here.
Eva Phillips is celebrating her third year in Pittsburgh, third year writing for PGH in the Round, and twenty-seventh year not getting murdered (shockingly, despite all odds). She relocated to the brittle Steel City from Virginia to pursue her Masters in Literary and Cultural Studies at CMU (with a concentration in film theory and film criticism, and intersections with feminism and gender), and has spent the past few years in Pittsburgh cultivating her writing career, developing her blog https://www.tuesgayswithmorrie69.net/, raising two show cats, and widening her perspectives on the ever-evolving spectrum of theatre. She only has one Les Miserables tattoo out of her 32 tattoos, and she finds that morally reprehensible.
Categories: Archived Reviews