Horror

You don’t need to be a horror film junkie, or even fan, to get great value and enjoyment out of Horror.  If you are looking for a fun evening that is creepy, sinister, unsettling, weird, full of clever shocks and surprises then it is certainly worth catching this show from Swedish Director Jakob Ahlbom.

Horror is presented with remarkable precision and is extremely engrossing.   Light (Yuri Schreuders), sound (Wim conradi and Bauke Moerman) and performers work in sync to the split second.  It is a massive achievement in staging.  There are many remarkable sudden, totally integrated, changes of focus.  One can hardly credit how the performers are able to move as swiftly as required to achieve all the incredulities and uncanny surprises.

As dancer/gymnasts, a number of the cast bring us some remarkable feats of gruesome contortion.

Whether you are able to identify Jakob Ahlbom’s homages to famous horror films, or not, the production is rich enough in its spectacular staging to stand on it’s own as a work of art.

With antics of a severed hand and a very rubbery couch and all sorts of impossible brutality, I doubt that I will forget this show and the enjoyment I had in trying to unravel how features were put together.

Horror is such a kooky medium.  At first the stakes seem really high and the audience desperately doesn’t want anything to go wrong.  The tension that is built is so palpable that perhaps we would be unable to take anymore.  Because it is an almighty a relief when blood and guts start spurting and chaos reigns.  We get swept up into the marvel of it all - mercifully ceasing to actually care about what happens to the characters in which we had initially invested so much.

As horror is usually a genre of film, and seldom transferred to stage, this show is a unique opportunity to watch horror ‘in the flesh’ so to speak. 

It is hardly surprising that tickets are now as scarce as the proverbial hen’s teeth. 

I am not particularly a horror fan but this show is a rich and engrossing experience and I am very grateful that our Arts Centre does bring Melbourne audiences such exceptional experiences for our delectation.

Truly a treat.

Suzanne Sandow

Credits

Cast:

Yannick Greweldinger

Luc van Esch

Thomas van Ouwerkerk

Reinier Schimmel

Sofieke de Kater

Andrea Beugger

Gwen Langenberg

Silke Hundertmark

Dramaturge: Judith Wendel

Design:Douwe Hibma, Jakop Ahlbom with cooperation of Remco Gianotten

Music Design: Wim Conradi & Bauke Moerman

Lighting Design: Yuri Schreuders

Photogrpher: Sanne Peper