Cast: (l-r) Matthew Moskalyk, Arden Pruden (Death), Ethan Radstrom (Charlie Creeps), David KC Cramer.
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- Dalnavert House was the perfect backdrop for the play.
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- The beautiful Heritage Building Dalnavert Museum was the setting for “Tales of the Macabre.”
Can you imagine watching a movie without a soundtrack and sound effects. I know I can’t. Sound and sound effects play a big part in movies and in theatre. Especially in horror movies. Sounds play a big part in creating certain moods in all genres of films and plays…. suspense, danger, happiness, etc.
The Fringe play “Tales of the Macabre” features a live soundtrack with two musicians playing music as well as sounds.
The play was written by Charlie Creeps of Longshot Projects. The venue was a Bring Your Own Venue play. BYOV is for fringe performers to find their own venue as opposed to being assigned one by the Fringe Fest organizers.
Charlie Creeps was our storyteller for the evening.
The theatre group approached Dalnavert Museum’s Program and Marketing Director Charlene Van Buekenhout to see if they could stage their play there. Charlene agreed as the museum has been used for plays for a few years already.
The setting was wonderful outside on the front lawn of the beautiful heritage building.
Two characters, who looked like they could be descendants of the Addams family, came onto the lawn and resurrected a fellow (Charlie Creeps) sprawled out on the ground. They then picked up their instruments and proceeded to wrangle some very eery sounds out of them.
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- The two ghoulish musicians provided the soundtrack shortly after reviving Charlie Creeps.
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- “Tales of the Macabre” was frighteningly fun.
Matthew Moskalyk (who’s played every type of music over the last quarter century) played guitar with a violin bow as well as scraping a can and slapping the strings with his hands. He also banged on a hand drum while pacing around once in a while.
David KC Cramer (who started playing harmonica at age three) played a very mournful harmonica as well as creating sound effects with bells, noisemakers and by scraping a hacksaw blade over the back lid of a toilet.
I was reminded of Tom Waits and Nick Cave more than a few times throughout the show.
The newly resurrected storyteller, played by Ethan Radstrom, was great in his dapper tophat, as he related tales of the macabre to the audience. All the while, Death (played by Arden Pruden) seemed to be lurking throughout the grounds and kept on popping out of nowhere.
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- Death seemed to pop up out of nowhere from time to time throughout the play.
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- … and even shared an apple with our storyteller.
Death appeared on stage once in a while and interacted with our storyteller, at one point sharing an apple with him.
Awesome setting for an awesome play with an amazing soundtrack.
Venue 20: Dalnavert Museum, 61 Carlton St.
(will move indoors in inclement weather)
Thu. July 27 @ 7:30 p.m.
Fri. July 28 @ 8:30 p.m.
Sat. July 29 @ 7:30 p.m.
All photos by Doug Kretchmer
Click here for more reviews and stories from Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival 2017
