[NEohioPAL] Review of Geauga Theater's "The Haunting of Hill House"

Bob Abelman r.abelman at adelphia.net
Tue Oct 22 11:24:47 PDT 2013


Geauga Theater's 'Haunting' the wrong kind of horrifying

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Morning Journal, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times,

Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 10/25/13

 

 

In the 1960s, media philosopher Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase "the medium is the message," meaning that each method of storytelling - novels, films, plays, and so on - helps shape the story itself. 

 

This is certainly true for the novel/film/play "The Haunting of Hill House."  

 

The story revolves around a small group of psychically receptive people who have been brought together in Hill House, a brooding, mid-Victorian mansion known to be evil and uninhabitable. Led by the learned Dr. Montague, who is conducting research in the supernatural, the visitors have come to probe the secrets of the old house and to draw forth its mysterious powers - powers which have brought madness and death to those who have lived there.

 

As a 1959 novel by Shirley Jackson, "The Haunting of Hill House" was a Finalist for the National Book Award and is considered one of the best literary ghost stories/psychological thrillers published during the 20th century.   

 

It was poorly received as a 1999 film (there was also a 1966 version), with most critics citing its weak screenplay and overuse of horror clichés.  Its only saving grace was a cast of A-list actors who gave dimension to cardboard characters and its $80 million production budget to create the creepy computer generated anthropomorphizing of the house.

 

As a play adapted by F. Andrew Leslie in 1998 and currently on stage at Geauga Theater, it is terrible.

 

Like so many plays derived from novels, this one is void of activity or action, relying instead on wordy exposition to explain the plot, wordy introductions for each character, and wordy dialogue to set up the handful of scenes where something scary happens.  

 

Without a novel's narrative voice to get inside the heads of its readers and manipulate their imagination, the play is dependent on superb acting to capture its audience.  

 

Without a film's technology, expertise and budget to generate elaborate visual effects, the play must depend on the elements of suspense and surprise generated from precise direction and carefully crafted sound and lighting design.

 

This Geauga Theater production has none of these things.  

 

Its actors --  Shane Wohlken as Dr. Montague, Jen Anderson as Eleanor, Liz Iafelice as Theodora, Grace Butcher as the housekeeper Mrs. Dudley, Randy Hensen as Luke, Civia Wiesner as Mrs. Montague, and Evan Graham as Mrs. Montague's assistant Arthur - cannot quite rise above the cliché-laden lines and one-trick characters they are handed.  They are at their best delivering the comic relief that is woven into all psychological thrillers but, sadly, there is nothing to be relieved from. 

 

The actors also make short change of the play's sexual tension by ignoring it.  Theodora is a lesbian in the book and in the original film, but hints dropped about her leanings in the play's script and her obvious attraction to Eleanor are simply dismissed.  So too are Luke's sexual advances, which are aimed at anything with a pulse.  If the characters care so little about one other than there is no reason for the audience to.  

 

Director D. Roger Dixon does not manage to build or sustain suspense in this play, handcuffed by the missing element of surprise that should come from lighting designer Brad Allen's and sound designer Josh Suhy's handiwork.  But it is hard for an audience to get worked up over the mere rattling of doors, flickering of lights, and echoing of voices that represent irate poltergeists and the house's ill intentions. 

 

"The Haunting of Hill House" will likely be a disappointment for all those who stop by the theater seeking Halloween entertainment, except perhaps for parents looking for something that won't scare the little ones. 

 

"The Haunting of Hill House" continues through November 3 at the Geauga Theater in Chardon.  For tickets, which range from $8 to $15, call 440-286-2255 or visit www.geuagatheater.org.

 
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