Sunday, October 21, 2012

Ghosts and Ghouls in St. Mark's Place

By Byrne Harrison

If there can be said to be a theatrical equivalent of sitting around the campfire telling ghost stories, it is RadioTheatre's latest production, "The Haunting of St. Mark's Place."  Featuring the outstanding cast of Frank Zilinyi, R. Patrick Alberty, Alexandra Hellquist and Richard P. Butler, the production features all the things that you want out of a Halloween tale - supernatural visitors, spooky scenes, terrified screams, and enough creepiness to see you all the way to Halloween night.

The play begins with a classic, Lovecraft's "The Music of Erich Zann," reimagined to fit the St. Mark's Place setting for these short plays.  It continues with a story of possession, the return of a dead groom ready to claim his still living bride, a reimagining of W.W. Jacob's "The Monkey's Paw," and a terrific story about a dead wife's screaming skull.

Using little in the way of sets and special effects (just enough to create atmosphere), but taking full advantage of terrific music and sound effects, the company puts on a truly delightful evening of ghostly terror under the deft direction of Frank Zilinyi.

I have now seen four or so productions by this company, and continue to be impressed not only by the overall strength of the productions, but by the extremely talented cast and the well adapted plays (their work with H.P. Lovecraft's work is outstanding).  If you have never seen one of their shows, I urge you to head down to the East Village and catch one.  If you like radio theatre, you'll love RadioTheatre.


"The Haunting of St. Mark's Place"
Created by Dan Bianchi
Directed by Frank Zilinyi
Sound Engineer: Eduardo Ramirez

Featuring: Frank Zilinyi, R. Patrick Alberty, Alexandra Hellquist, Richard P. Butler

Closed: October 21st

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