The Warehouse Theatre Company, in collaboration with Stephens College, revived its One Act Festival this past weekend, holding it for the first time since 2009.
The festival was revived this year to showcase the expanse of talent at the company and at Stephens, according the program’s dramaturgy note.
Composed of four short plays and a performance from the Stephens College dance team, the One Act Festival had an eerie yet nostalgic feel. It was like having a horror movie marathon on a cold afternoon.
Though all four short plays had a tone of suspense, each had its own distinct flavor of terror.
Horrors by Don Nigro was a self-aware horror play that was reminiscent of Wes Craven’s Scream. It’s comedic but still manages to get your heart racing. Three college girls in colorful pajamas are having a sleepover in an old cabin characterized by ‘70s furniture. A mysterious stranger begins to terrorize them. At first, it seems like our heroines are doomed to become the victims of some deranged woodsman. But then the girls decide they want to rewrite the ending of their story instead of becoming helpless victims. They confront the intruder and question why it is that women are sexualized and then murdered in horror films. The girls befriend the first intruder and he reveals he is scared too. Before the girls can ask what he’s scared of, there is a jolting pound on the door and the stage fades to black.
Barefoot in Nightgown by Candlelight is another play by Don Nigro, but it has a more haunting feeling to it. Dim lighting, ghostly white nightgowns and a dark, empty stage set the scene for a spooky boarding school where recently orphaned Cath has been sent by her adoptive family. Lonely, young and vulnerable, she is targeted by two older girls, Belle and Alicia, to play a special game called Mistress and Slave on the night of each full moon. The mistress is allowed to ask anything she wants of the slave and the slave must do it. The three girls build an intimate ritual that bonds them in a dangerous way. The longer they play the game, the more the audience can see the tension, jealousy and danger building. The lust and codependency between the girls escalates into something darker than the game itself. It’s a slow-burning suspense that explores the extent of mercy, ritual and trust.
Hold for Three by Sherry Kramer is a lighter play that served as a breather between the other spooky tales. Three girls head out to the beach to watch the moon rise over the sea. One of the girls, Ed, plans to hold her breath for the duration of the moon’s rising, which is supposed to be a perfect three minutes. While she holds her breath, her friends distract her with wild stories. The whole play is maybe five minutes, but it’s clever and fun and serves as a playful break from horror.
The Donahue Sisters by Geraldine Aron was the closer to the festival. It’s the story of three sisters with a shared dark secret. Each has returned to their hometown following a family crisis. As they sit in their mother’s attic, they realize they’ve become more and more disconnected over time. They are at first critical and catty, but middle sister Dunya offers up a joint and they become as animated and friendly as they were as children. Playful friendship turns into a horrific scene when the sisters begin to reminisce on murdering a teenage boy from their neighborhood as children. Although they’ve drifted, the devilish deeds of their past keep the three connected.
The four selections for the Warehouse One Act Festival were complementary and offered a just summary of the horror genre.
_Edited by Brooke Collier | bcollier@themaneater.com_