Shutters Open

. . . While following Dolores during my very first loop, being mesmerized by Andrea (Kirsty Arnold) as she locked eyes with me during the pre-orgy line dance (1).

. . . Following Romola (Katie McGuinness) out of the Horse and Stars and into town, seeing the arcade for the first time, and staggering at the realization of the scale that we were dealing with (2).

. . . Alice (Emily Mytton) snatching up a couple of pairs of scissors and scaring a poor white mask so badly that she knocked her own mask off of her head (2).

. . . Finding myself in Studio 2, completely and utterly alone at the top of the show, watching Wendy (Sophie Bortolussi) dance in the trees for the first time (5).

. . .Unexpectedly sobbing as Faye (Katie Lusby) sang “Walking in the Sand,” facing the terrifying and ecstatic realization of just how much power the show could wield over my emotions (5)

. . . Mary (Laure Bachelot) hugging me and sobbing into my ear as if I were William, demonstrating just how devastatingly powerful the sense of touch is as a form of communication (9).

. . . Escaping to the finale with Romola (Sonya Cullingford) and cleaning the makeup off of her face to set her free.  The second time I cried at the show, and I think the first in my life that I ever cried from happiness (9).

. . . Standing in the saddlery with Badlands Jack (Julian Stolzenberg), watching the rest of the world go by and seeing how it all fit together.  For the first time, I got a sense of The Drowned Man as a living, breathing world (11).

. . . Faye (Sonya Cullingford) drunkenly trying to dance with me in the trailer park.  Part of a loop that salvaged what was otherwise my only full-on bad show, and the point where I realized that Faye was and had always been my favorite character, despite the fact that I explicitly claimed otherwise in my write-ups (13).

. . . At that same show, where I had grown to despise the crowds, watching Stanford (Sam Booth) blatantly run over the people who refused to move with his wheelchair (13).

. . . Finding Badlands Jack (Sean Edwards) sitting alone in his trailer at the top of the show and watching him slowly, terrifyingly come to life (14).

. . . In the middle of my best loop ever, returning to the moment where Faye (Katie Lusby) sang “Walking in the Sand” - but this time, she sang it directly to me (16).

. . . The audition 1:1 with the PA (Fania Grigoriou), which was so frightening that everything around it became a blur in my memory (17).

. . . Standing at the foot of the murder mound with Phoebe (Zoe Mills) as everyone else rushed over to the stage for the finale, realizing that her story was somehow still unfolding (18).

...Alone in the desert chapel, turning at a sound that I wasn’t sure I had even heard, and seeing the last trailing tatters of black fabric slipping past the edge of the door as the Dust Witch (Laura Harding) disappeared into the darkness (19).

. . . My second 1:1 with the Fool (Greig Cooke), which went horribly wrong but worked out so perfectly that to this day I still suspect that it was planned that way (22).

. . . During my one and only Studio 3 loop, spending a good half hour talking to another white mask, only to discover at the end that the entire time, she thought I was an actor playing a role, like the execs (23).

. . . The perfect, untouchable 1:1 :  the Drugstore Girl (Sonya Cullingford).  It's like Romola's trailer, but refined and tied in much more meaningfully with the character arc. And Sonya played it so pitch-perfectly that I almost couldn't continue with the loop because it ended with such devastating finality (24).

. . . Stanford (Adam Burton) rushing me to the tree room so aggressively that I thought I was actually in physical danger (25).

. . . The hilariously awkward conversation between the Doctor (Sam Booth) and the Seamstress (Annabeth Berkeley) when she woke him up after he, er, fell asleep while masturbating over an inkblot (28).

. . .Watching the magic act in Studio 3 with a bunch of friends and collectively drinking all of Conrad's (Ben Whybrow) gin when he wasn't looking (31).

. . . And finally, the greatest thing that ever happened inside that building: The escape of the Drugstore Girl (Sonya Cullingford) and the Grocer (Jesse Kovarsky).  An incredible, magical burst of improvisation, something that could only happen because the show was ending.  All of the pent-up emotions of the previous 32 shows and all of my fears and feelings about the end were somehow exposed, addressed, reflected, and ultimately resolved by the journey that Sonya and Jesse took in those final few minutes. It was, to use the Grocer's word, perfect, and it could never have happened anywhere else (32).

So rest in peace, Mr. Stanford, Miss Greener, all you Fortunes, and everyone else.  Thank you for the memories you’ve given me, and thank you to those who made you what you were.  I raise a glass of cheap whiskey in your honor, and to whatever comes next*.

Maleek Washington's Banquo

It's symmetry, I guess – I started the first and last shows of this trip with Maleek.  I had enjoyed his performance as Fulton, but I wasn't particularly enthusiastic about it (though to be fair, loop 1 Fulton is heavily compromised by the absence of Taxi).  His Banquo, on the other hand, is another matter entirely.  He's incredibly dynamic, and Maleek is clearly best-suited to playing a role that lets him cut loose with the dancing.  He and Stephanie Crousillat's Bald Witch make for a very strong pair.  It was also nice for me to spend some time with a loop that still feels pretty fresh – I haven't spent a lot of time with Banquo. That may also be why the 1:1 was so emotionally overwhelming again – or maybe it really is just that well designed (or maybe Maleek is just that good at it).  Overall, Maleek’s Banquo felt younger and less in control (externally and socially) than Evan’s, which I think works for him very well.  He’s more at the mercy of the conspiracy surrounding him, which was a big help in gaining my sympathy.  

After the 1:1, I stuck around on the balcony and watched the second ballroom from there, a perspective I hadn't experienced for a long, long time.  It also positioned me well to pick up Marla Phelan's Lady M for the second loop.  However, shortly after we got to the Macbeth's bedroom, I remembered why I have a rule to do her first loop, or not at all (in a word: People. Bonus second word: Many). So I bailed out and headed up to 4, where I found. . .

Mallory Gracenin's Agnes

I really love Mallory's Agnes.  There's a rawness to her that makes her very exciting, but it's balanced out so she doesn't turn into one of the full-on aggressive or overly confident Agneses.  Her baseline persona is that of the innocent, scared girl who is way out of her depth, but when you scratch the surface, there's a lot of strength underneath.  It's not a useful, controlled strength, however – it's more tied into a fight-or-flight response, and usually manifests itself in momentary bursts of volcanic anger and violence.  I'm talking about her second scene with the Porter, or the way she slammed the shrine in her bedroom shut, or, of course, The Slap, which I sadly didn't see this time because it wasn't quite a full loop, but which I've mentioned before.  This has been evident in how Mallory plays her ever since the first time I followed her, but I don't think I fully grasped it until now.  It's actually not unlike what I saw in Paul Zivkovich's Porter, which makes me really curious to see what it would look like when the two of them are on together.  

I stuck with her through the reset, then it was off to the fifth floor for. . .

Marissa Maislen's Nurse Shaw

Yes, again.  I would have preferred to see her doing one of her other characters this time, but you take what the casting gods give you.  She was presumably off in the Macbeth's bedroom when I arrived at her office, but it was only a minute or two before she showed up, with a very keen follower in tow. I mean, this girl was ON IT.  I actually found her extremely annoying, until I came to the realization that my annoyance was based entirely on the fact that I wanted to be doing what she was doing, but couldn't because she had beaten me to it.  Amazingly, I actually wasn't bothered anymore once I figured that out.

Very early on I saw the first interaction with the Matron, who was played by Kate Douglas.  This pleased me greatly, because a) I had never seen her play the Matron before, and b) I had previously only ever seen Marissa paired with Megh Dixon.  And nothing against Megh as the Matron, but she’s pretty tall, and I have this hangup about Nurses and Matrons where I like them to be as similar looking as possible.  I think this goes back to my very first show, where I saw them walking down the stairs at the end, looking like twins (speaking of that first show, I would give anything for them to start doing that beautiful hand washing ritual in the Macbeth's bedroom at the end of the show again).  Anyway, Kate is a much better match for Marissa in that regard.  

Not long after came the 1:1, which went to the keen girl.  Oddly enough, I was sharing this loop with another friend (a different one from my last Marissa Nurse loop), so once again, I had company on the steps while I waited.  The girl who got the 1:1 came out and immediately left, and a minute or two later Marissa emerged.  I hopped up and followed her down the hall to her office – except, no, I didn't.  She didn't go to the office, she just stood outside the 1:1 door with her hand extended.  So I also had the 1:1, which was both great and very perplexing, since I've never seen Nurse Shaw double up like that and she had to skip most of her next scene to compensate.  Still, I’m certainly not complaining, even if I have no idea why she did it.  It felt like the 1:1 had evolved a bit since the last time I had it with Marissa, and in particular, the final moment was surprisingly aggressive and a bit scary (which was a very welcome touch).  There was also an amusing miscalculation of positioning that she handled so deftly, I almost wonder if it was something she did deliberately.  It actually kind of makes sense for the way she plays the character.

Not much else to say, given that I just wrote this loop up two shows ago.  That makes it sound low-key and disappointing, though really, it was anything but.  Marissa is always a joy to watch, and since it was third loop, I got to see two possessed limb dances.  What more could you ask for?

On a side note, I want to congratulate Sarah on her salt-cup-making skills.  This is the first time one of those has ever survived the night for me, remaining completely intact and full all the way back to the hotel.  This may also be related to the fact that they have reverted to more appropriate feeling paper in the 1:1, rather than the glossy stuff that's been in there for the past several months.  So hooray for that.

Once the loop ended, I was at a bit of a loss as to where to go.  Third loop was already decided, but in the meantime, I wandered a couple of floors before finally settling on a character that I had not yet quite managed a full loop with in any guise, namely. . .

Marc Cardarelli's Speakeasy.

Marc's Speakeasy is like his Taxi, in that both of them feel much more grounded and human than a lot of interpretations.  Rather than seeming like he belongs to the supernatural world, it's more like he's a con artist who bluffed his way into Hecate's service – sort of a John Constantine kind of character.  Like all/most Speakeasys (in my limited experience, anyway), there is an element of being a total dick, but he's so in your face and animated about it that it's really entertaining to watch.  The shots game was wildly entertaining, as was watching the uncomfortably long hand-holding stare-down he had with the girl who won it.  And the faces he was making at Agnes were priceless.

Alas, Speakeasy still remains one of the two 1:1's that I've never had, as, at the end of the loop, when it came down to me and a girl who just showed up (no one else was around), he picked her.  Ah, well, perhaps next time.  I sat down to wait it out (to the great amusement of a friend who wandered by a moment later), watched Speakeasy do a bit of housekeeping on his return, and then my third loop showed up.  Given the date of this show, it's probably no surprise that she was. . .

Leslie Kraus's Sexy Witch (for the last time)

One would expect this loop – the last from a beloved veteran of both Sleep No More and The Drowned Man – to be absolutely mobbed, and in relative terms, it was – but the show was quiet enough in general that realistically, it didn't pass “moderately crowded.”  It was kind of strange (but also kind of nice), though, having so many recognizable audience members sharing the loop.  There were a few alterations to mark the occasion, and the one that struck me the most was the first that I saw – just before the ballroom scene, as the witches came together in the center of the room, seeming to cling together more tightly than usual, I heard them whisper, together, “last one.”  A bit later, as has become tradition, Leslie was hoisted in the air in place of Duncan.  Later still, after the rave, Boy and Bald Witch truncated their cleaning routines to return and watch Leslie's final cleansing dance, and when Hecate restored her at the end, they all came together for one final moment as a group.  Every time one of these things happened, Leslie, clearly overwhelmed, would break character for just a moment – which was kind of adorable and very touching.  

It was a lovely loop to watch, even if circumstances dictated that it wouldn't be one of those intensely focused ignore-the-rest-of-the-world type of loops that I usually prefer.  It was the first time I've ever been present for a cast member's final night, and it brought back some of the same feelings as the last few Drowned Man shows.

Paul Zivkovich's Porter

I found him dancing around the lobby, throwing sheets around, which I really appreciated.  It seems that every time I pop by the lobby at the top of the show, the Porter is hiding in his office, with or without the door closed.  This is much better.  It wasn't a particularly quiet show, but was a really weird audience (more on that later), so things were very slow to get going on that front – which was great, because that meant the loop was very sparsely attended.  It was mostly just me for a while, barring the occasional passerby, and for the back half, it was just me and one other guy who were sticking with Paul.

In the past, I've described his Porter as “the Angry Porter.”   The one who isn't just sad about things, but actively bristles and seethes under Hecate's influence.  After a full loop, I don't think that's a fully accurate description, but it's certainly connected.  He isn't angry all the time, at least not outwardly.  Not even most of the time.  But there's something there. . . a little bit of instability, a capacity for violence, that I don't often see in Porters.  And every once in a while it erupts, which is what I had been responding to originally.  His freak-out in the phone booth is a highlight in that regard, and there was a moment in the 1:1 where he actually scared me, playing it much more fiercely than anyone else I've seen.  This is important because it keeps him from slipping too far into the “romantically tragic” mode of Portering, which I know many people love, but which doesn't really speak to me.  Plus, his eyes, are just so ridiculously red and puffy all the time in this role that it pushes him down the road toward the true despair I felt from Miguel Anaya's Porter.  This is a very good thing.  I had a great time with this one.  Plus, there's something he does in the 1:1 which is unique to him (or mostly unique – I think I've heard Austin may do it as well), and getting to see that for the first time solved a nagging mystery relating to an experience I had doing Hecate's ring quest a full THREE YEARS ago. It feels really good to finally understand that.

I left him in the middle of the lobby reset to go down to the ballroom and pick out a new character, but wound up coming right back again almost immediately, this time in the company of. . .

Emily Oldak's Sexy Witch

Emily is in serious danger of becoming my very favorite Sexy Witch.  Every time I come back, she's gotten a little slicker, a little more confident, and a little more fun.  She doesn't quite have Leslie's light touch, but she comes closer than anyone else and balances it out with a greater sense of menace and madness.  It's an archetypal, all-encompassing interpretation of the character, and I love it.

I also got to be on the receiving end of a pretty impressive level of teasing from her, which was unexpected and a lot of fun.  On the way to the candy shop, she caught my eye at the top of the stairs, and then toyed with me through the glass with some candy, the way you would expect her to toy with someone that she's setting up for the 1:1.  But once Macduff had come and gone, she ignored me completely.  This was not particularly odd, since I had had this one with her before, and I figured it just wasn't my time.  The thing that was strange, though, was that she didn't pick anyone outside the shop, instead heading right over to the room.  There, she unlocked the door, looked up, caught the eyes of another guy, and took his hand.  But she didn't take him in.  Instead, she just stood there for a moment, until a massive smirk spread across her face and she looked at me, released him, and (somewhat violently) pulled me into the room.  Such a wonderfully witchy thing to do, but I've never seen it before.  I'd like to think I would have found it hilarious even if I'd been the other guy.

Once we headed into the rave, I saw probably the most bizarrely inappropriate case of audience misbehavior that I've ever come across, even topping Sheet Man. Hecate (Elizabeth Romanski) was standing there with her arms out, doing the weird summoning breathing.  But there was something extra weird about her – too many arms.  Odd shape. As I got closer, I realized that I was actually seeing two people – Hecate, and an older woman standing face to face with her, only a couple of inches away, her elbows thrust out to the side.  Elizabeth, being a true pro, didn't even react to the woman's presence.  It was really bizarre – but what put it over the top was that, after a minute or two, the woman decided to reach out and put her hand on Elizabeth's hip!  What the hell is that about?  It was, apparently, the final straw, because that was the point at which Boy Witch rushed over and dragged the woman off to some dark corner.  

This was followed shortly thereafter by the guy who was happy to stand several layers back in the crowd during the orgy until the women's tops came down, at which point he suddenly had to shove his way to the front.  Eeeeeehhhhh . . . .

But enough about the crowd.  This was too good of a loop to dwell on them.  Emily pulled all of her usual tricks, including the massive wet hair swing, which I think is up to two and a half full revolutions now.  And I'm impressed by how I never really notice how tiny she is until the end of her cleansing dance, when she's standing there with Hecate, looking so pathetic and child-like.

I've followed Emily as Sexy four or five times now, but oddly, I've never actually done the full loop.  I always wind up picking her up in the Ballroom (or once in the Speakeasy), and never make it past the banquet with her, for various reasons.  I've seen her other scenes during other loops, but I've never made it though the complete rotation and I don't really have a good reason why.  This time, though. . . this time I was enjoying the loop so much that I felt sure I just had to stick with her for the whole thing.  In fact, given what I had already seen of the casting during these first two loop (one and a half?) loops, there was only one possible scenario that would make me leave prematurely.  And what are the odds of that?

Pretty good odds, apparently.  As I stood in the back of the ballroom, watching the banquet, one of my friends walked past and whispered in my ear, “Marissa is Nurse.” So I headed up to the mezzanine to meet up with. . . .

Marissa Maislen's Nurse Shaw

Right off the bat, Marissa had changed up her loop.  Last time I followed her, she skulked around the back of the ballroom, invisible to all.  This time, she was hanging out up on the mezzanine – but she didn't just stand there and watch.  She moved around every once in a while, each time finding a spot where two people were standing with just a bit of space between them, and then slowly inserting herself into that space, forcing them apart inch by tiny inch, all without actually touching them at any point. It was like she somehow mentally compelled them, and it was fantastic.

I've written about Marissa's Nurse Shaw more than once before, so I won't delve too deeply here, but I will say that, while I prefer Marissa in other roles (Agnes!), I do think this is the role where she elevates it the most above the standard. Her Shaw is so bizarrely damaged, so different, it's almost like she's some kind of alien.  You can tell by the way she looks at things that they're just not processing for her the way they do for us.  It's just fascinating to watch.

I also noticed, for the first time, a sort of through-line from her scene with the Matron  in the woods to the possessed limb dance a bit later.  Something about the way she frantically, almost compulsively wiped her chalky hands on the Matron's dress, after wiping away the words on the column, made me think that the possessed limb story started right there.  Like it was the words themselves that possessed her, rather than something from the subsequent scene in the hut.

Speaking of possessed limb, and going back to the whole “weird/awful audience” thing, someone had laid out a straightjacket with a bunch of metal medical clamps on the table in the operating theater.  Why would you want to do that?  I spent the whole time that Marissa was circling the room fighting the urge to remove it, as I was worried that might be even more intrusive. Fortunately, when the time came for her to slam her hand down on the table, she had no trouble flinging it aside all in the same motion. Much less of an issue than I thought it would be.

No 1:1 for me this time around, but another friend was doing the loop as well, so I had company while I waited on the steps.  Since this was third loop, we were treated to a second possessed limb dance, plus the alternate ending activity where the Nurse and Matron finally come together, which continues to make me very happy.  When we got down to the ballroom for the finale, I had what was easily my creepiest walkout experience ever.  Midway through the banquet, Marissa took my hand and directed me up to the edge of the mezzanine, then stepped back, running her hand gently up and down my back.  Then. . . she left.  Disappeared, wandered off, I don't know.  I didn't turn around to look.  I have to admit to being a touch disappointed.

But a minute later, as I shifted my weight, suddenly I realized: She was still touching me, just very lightly.  And she had been the whole time.  Another minute, and I changed my mind.  She was gone.  But no. . . she was still there. But she wasn't.  I spent the rest of the banquet in a state of quietly mounting panic.  The idea of someone touching you in such a way that you can't even tell they're doing it is extremely disconcerting, even if it was entirely my imagination.  Which it might have been.  Or not.

Stephanie Crousillat's Bald Witch

After my March shows, I felt almost obligated to do a loop with Stephanie as the Bald Witch, since she had walked me out without my having followed her at all.  Then, after seeing her dance at Mayfair (something I only saw a bit of when I had followed her Nurse Shaw), I became very excited to see what she would do with a dance-heavy role.  I was not disappointed.  Stephanie is a beautiful dancer with a very strong presence, and it was an absolute joy to watch her leaping and ducking around Macduff in the ballroom.  It was even better because, like I said, quiet night – I had her entire solo and the Macduff duet to myself, save for a couple of people who appeared up on the balcony partway through.  Perhaps because there were so few other people around, it wound up being one of those really fun, conspiratorial loops where you partner up with a character and they keep grabbing you and pulling you in.  The most striking interaction was the point where she used my hand to comb her scalp stubble over and over, while staring me down so intensely that I actually couldn't hold her gaze.  I can't recommend Stephanie's Bald Witch highly enough.  And bonus: she's actually bald!  In fact, both of the Bald Witches in the regular rotation are actually bald, something that hasn't been the case for some time now.  

One other thing of note during the loop – at this show, we were treated to Lily Ockwell's Sexy Witch, which I had not seen previously for two years – maybe longer. More to the point – we were, therefore, also treated to Lily Ockwell's Sexy Witch Orgy Scream ™.  You know the one – up on the table, bent over backward, goes on forever, so intense that you can actually hear the soundwaves pulsing – yeah, that one.  Hearing that again made me so happy that I can't even properly describe the feeling.  It was like coming home.

I finished my loop dancing with the Bald Witch, whereby I confirmed that I am as awful at that as I am at dancing with Sexy Witch.  Yet for some reason, I just keep trying. Once the ballroom scene got up and running, I headed up to 4 to wait for the as-yet unidentified Agnes to emerge from the bedroom.  When she did, I was thrilled to find myself face-to-face with. . .

Taylor Drury's Agnes

This was my top loop that I was hoping to catch over the weekend.  I was already quite fond of Taylor's Lady Macduff, and in particular felt that a lot of what she was doing there was very well suited to Agnes.  Plus, any opportunity to see a new Agnes is something to look forward to, no matter who it is.  As I expected, Taylor's Agnes falls on the innocent, out of her league end of the spectrum, which is just how I like her.  But I was unprepared for just how far she seemed to push that side of the character.  Unlike Marissa, who plays with the dichotomy between the innocent, frightened girl and the cool, collected, fatale-ish facade, or Mallory, who is more outwardly overwhelmed but is bolstered by flashes of inner strength and violence, Taylor plays Agnes as almost entirely guileless, an absolute sweetheart.  I honestly believed that she was infatuated with Malcolm, and I felt that the only reason she wasn't as obviously worked up and frightened as Mallory's Agnes when she was stealing from Fulton is because she's lived enough of a sheltered life that she doesn't really understand, on an emotional level, the repercussions of what she's doing or of getting caught. And then there's the 1:1 – Taylor absolutely killed it, just like she did the Lady MacD 1:1.  That type of close-up, intimate performance seems to be particularly well-suited for her.  It also helped that she didn't do two 1:1's in a row, so she was able to really take her time with it.  I'm obviously not going to delve into details, but the way she played it definitely reinforced everything I just described about her.  

Incidentally, I got a really good chuckle out of the fact that she just reached up to the high shelf in Fulton's shop to grab the money box, rather than having to stand on something like everyone else.

At any rate, my top two Agneses are not really in danger of being supplanted, but Taylor's version is closer to them than to the main pack.  I'm definitely interested in returning to the loop (surprising no one) to see how it develops.  But in the meantime, my loop ended in the hotel lobby, where I stayed behind with. . . .

Will Seefried's Porter

I didn't actually stay with him for very long, but I wanted to see a bit of the loop, since Will seems to be kind of legendary amongst the fan community.  He's a pretty classical Porter, that is to say, more in the romantically tragic vein.  It's not really what I'm looking for in a Porter, as I've mentioned before, but there were some nice individual touches, the most notable of which is that he felt like he really wasn't all there.  Watching him seem to have to have to struggle to really process things did a lot to build sympathy.  Plus, even though I prefer the alternate endings to the 1:1 that I had with Miguel Anaya and Matty Oaks, it had been so long since I had a 1:1 with the standard “happy” (well, happy-ish, sort of) ending that it was kind of a nice change.  Anyway, I left shortly after Danvers and Lady MacD arrived because I wanted to catch one more Lily Scream, so I really didn't see enough to get a full picture of him.  I liked what I saw, but it wasn't grabbing me the way some others have.

Maleek Washington's Fulton

I was let off on the 4th floor, rushed down to the ballroom, and decided that nothing down there was really grabbing me right at that moment.  So I headed right back up the stairs to 4 again, meaning that the predominant thought in my head upon starting the show was “why the hell did I just do that?” Fortunately, I was able to forget about that once I tracked down a good candidate for my first loop, which turned out to be Maleek as Fulton.  It had been a while since I spent any real time with Fulton, and Maleek was almost entirely new to me, so he seemed like a promising choice.  It was a kind of underwhelming way to start in one sense, as there's not a lot of drama going on there in the first loop, when Fulton's nemesis, the Taxidermist, doesn't exist.  But it was also kind of nice to ease back into things, and I enjoyed Maleek's performance – he seemed more earnest than a lot of the more recent Fultons, without the vaguely sinister undertones that often pop up.  But at the same time, he seems kind of drawn to the sin and evil that surrounds him.  The autopsy of Sexy Witch (Leslie Kraus) felt like it leaned a bit more toward caressing than examining, and when he was recoiling from the rave, he fell to the ground and seemed for a moment to be trying to crawl inside the room before he managed to fully pull away.  In retrospect, I'm very curious to see how his stuff with Agnes plays out, as I think it might help paint a better picture of what I'm talking about – but alas, I left the loop when he abandoned me at the conclusion of the 1:1, so that will have to wait until next time. Instead, I headed upstairs, where I found. . .

Tina Mitchell's Matron

I had seen Tina as the Matron very briefly the night of Mayfair, and she struck me as very interesting. There was something about her face as she was scrawling about honest men on the column in the forest – so pained and troubled, but also distant and disconnected.  I came across her this time at around that same point in the loop, but early enough to see her emerge from the hut and follow her through the maze of trees, where my earlier impressions were confirmed.   I also stuck with her a bit longer and was gifted with the 1:1 which is, for the Matron, pretty much the only way to really see what she's all about.  In this case, she feels very broken, simultaneously calm and skittish. Neurotic almost seems like a better word.  This of course makes perfect sense – what else would you expect from someone who used to run an asylum, and now lives in a hut in the woods under the care of a former patient?  At any rate, something about that portrayal really struck a chord with me, and it was easily the most emotionally affected I've been by a Matron 1:1.  Tina is very, very good in this role.  I really hope that someday I can see her paired up with Marissa Maislen's Nurse Shaw  – there are common elements to how they approach the respective characters that I think would make them a very interesting, beautiful, and tragic pair. However, at this show, she was paired with. . .

Stephanie Crousillat's Nurse Shaw

I moved on to Nurse Shaw fairly quickly after the 1:1, knowing that I'd still wind up catching the Matron's one remaining big scene.  My impression of Stephanie's Nurse is that she's kind of a gentle soul, perhaps less strong, less able to deal with the horrors in her life than some of the other Nurse Shaws, but also less damaged by them at the same time.  It was harrowing to follow her mad dash to the possessed limb dance, her hand already twitching of its own accord before she even got out of the forest, and heartbreaking to see her cowering in a ball at the end of one of the beds for what seemed like an eternity.  Then there was the 1:1, the conclusion of which was played in a way that almost felt kind of warm and comforting, as if the whole experience was therapeutic to her and she wanted to be sure I came away from it unscathed. It was completely unexpected and left me a bit turned around, which is probably a good thing.  

Fast forward a couple of years, and an awfully similar situation cropped up.  After playing a lead role for several months, Sophie was leaving The Drowned Man.  I couldn't help thinking the same thing again – what are they going to do without her?  But this time, as soon as I saw Leslie's name, I knew we would be in good hands – and in the subsequent months, she more than proved it. I only ever really gave her one full loop as Wendy (and one as Dust Witch), since I have become really bad about not spending time with main characters, but it was always nice to see her even in passing, the rock-solid glue holding the Studio-side story together.

Eventually The Drowned Man came to an end and Leslie returned to Sleep No More, this time in the role of Sexy Witch.  You'd think I'd have learned to trust her by this point, but once again, I just didn't get it.  Sexy is a fun role (much of the time, anyway).  Wendy, Dusty, Lady M. . . not so much.  Agnes is probably the closest match, but even that is quite a leap.  Nothing I had ever seen her do seemed to indicate that she was a good fit for the role – her performances were all so. . . weighty.  Of course, I still had to see for myself, and lo and behold, Leslie proved me wrong again.  She not only had no trouble switching gears, but for my money, she was actually the Sexy Witch with the lightest touch, the one who most fully embraced that side of the character.  I never would have expected it. . . but I probably should have.  I feel extremely fortunate that I was able to catch a couple of final Sexy Witch loops with Leslie this month, and that by a random quirk of scheduling, I was there on Saturday night to see that final performance.

THE SHOW (#28)

Normally I figure on party night shows being largely a write-off due to crowds (and yet, perversely, I don’t think I would ever feel right attending a party without doing the show first), but this was a pleasant surprise, probably owing to the fact that it wasn’t fully sold out like Halloween always is.  First loop was Leslie Kraus’s Sexy Witch, which was great back in September and just as fun here.  That was followed by an awkward half-loop with Ernesto Breton’s Speakeasy, who was constantly trying his hardest not to be followed.  He even angry finger-snapped at me when I indicated that I didn’t want to leave to go watch the rave.  Quick stop upstairs to check on the Nurse and Matron (neither of whom I recognized - anyone know who they were?  I particularly liked what I saw of the Matron), then I settled in with Taylor Drury’s Lady MacDuff for the rest of the show.  She seems to have loosened up and improved a bit since last time, and I thought she was already quite good back then - I’m now doubly excited to catch her Agnes someday (hopefully).

THE PARTY

The opening number was really fun, and kind of embodied everything I thought was missing from the Inferno opening.  Various combinations of the Paisley Players and a handful of others were performing off and on throughout the night, which was very welcome - I’m much more interested in things like that than I am in the dance floor.  In general, the atmosphere seemed a little less aggressive than it usually does at Halloween - again, a plus (I hate to keep comparing it to Inferno, which I did enjoy, but it really does feel like they very specifically rectified all of the issues I had with it).  There was also a fun little thing in the lost luggage area, where Ginger Kearns led a few people at a time in the creation of a personalized surreal mask-on-a-stick.

The highlight was probably a very cool paparazzi/movie star themed number at around a quarter to 1.  Big thanks to drinkthehalo for tipping me off that I needed to get down to the ballroom right away - it would have been a real shame to miss that.  Speaking of drinkthehalo, I definitely have to agree with her wish that there was a schedule/map of performances.  Maybe it’s against the spirit of things, but that really is in large part what I come for.  Wouldn’t mind some assistance in that area.

The show takes place inside the Enoch Pratt house, a historical building that has been closed to the public for the past ten years. It’s a fantastic location, and they get a lot of mileage out of just being inside that building. In particular, the central hallway/atrium is stunning, and they have wisely chosen to make extensive use of the grand staircase and the massive antique mirror that dominate the space. In addition to its use in the show proper, this is where the audience spends the pre-show time - this show’s version of the Manderley, in a sense. Really, this is the only point where I wasn’t fully satisfied or sold on the experience. The opening instructions seem to run a little bit long, and if you’re in the first group, you can spend an awfully long time in there before the show starts. On the other hand, if you’re paying close attention to everything around you, you may find something (or someone) to help pass the time…

Once the show itself got going, however, everything was golden (and that criticism above is mean to be taken very lightly).  My first night was spent largely with Natanya Washer’s Virginia, while my second was mostly split between Alexander Scally’s Auguste, Tanner Medding’s V., and Jenna Rossman’s Eliza, all of whom were absolutely fantastic and each of whom brought something unique to the table, whether it be Natanya’s quietly disturbing, almost Sleep No More-ish movement-based performance, Alexander’s room-devouring presence and mountains of dialogue, Tanner’s everyman likeability, or Jenna’s hilarity and attitude.  I wish I had seen more of Shannon Graham’s Sarah or Jessica Ruth Baker’s Barkeep, but from what I did see, they were certainly on par with the others and distinct in their own ways.  

I’m so used to writing recaps that I really just want to describe all of the wonderful things I saw and experienced - the coughing in the mirror; “There’s a willow. . . “ on the stairs; questions 7, 10, and 13; the dueling 1:1s; Virginia’s contribution to the seance; the door to nowhere. . . I can only hope that none of this makes sense to anyone who hasn’t experienced them already, because they all deserve to be seen in person and unspoiled.  

Then there’s the finale - gorgeous, hugely emotional. . . it’s the high point of the show, which I suppose is the best way to do it.  The transition into it also gives Shannon Graham (and in particular, her voice) a great opportunity to shine, even if you haven’t been following her character.  Even once it’s over, I love the way that you transition back out of the show, without taking a single step.  It’s unexpectedly effective, driving home the idea that all of this took place while you were in a mesmeric state.  It brings to mind Jan Svankmajer’s Alice of all things, which has a similar feeling of a fantasy world and the real world coexisting in the same space at the same time, with no way to distinguish them outside of your own mindset.

Perhaps the best thing I can say, ultimately, is that after spending two nights in a row at this show, my only disappointment was that I couldn’t stay for a third.  Fingers crossed for that fall revival, and congratulations to everyone involved in this run.

According to the cast list, she also plays Agnes.  That is now the top priority for my next trip.  

Second loop: Evan Copeland's Banquo.  I really wasn't sure what I was going to do 2nd loop, so I actually made a circuit of the entire building before finally deciding that I should try something new.  I came across Duncan (Phil Atkins) just as he was settling down for bed, hung out there until he was dead, and then followed Banquo out.  I've seen pretty much everything in this loop, but I've never done it all at once, and I've never really delved into the character, so it's hard for me to compare him to any of the other Banquos – but I definitely liked what I saw.  He seemed a bit on the rough side (in a good way), and he's kind of a difficult follow, with the four-story stair trips and the slipping in and out of his 1:1 room right in the middle of the door dance.  I must have done a better job of keeping up than he expected, though, as he actually clipped my hair with one of the lights in the stairs that he flung backward to mark his path.

The 1:1 was completely new to me – one of only three (now two) that I've never had.  It was pretty killer – I knew about the, er, “big prop” (no spoilers), but it still shocked me when he pulled it out.  And his final words left me kind of choked up, in a way I didn't expect.   He really knocked that scene out of the park.

Third loop: Mallory Gracenin's Agnes. Really just the last half-loop or so.  After all that newness in the first two loops, I figured I'd ride out the rest of the show with my favorite character.  I caught up to her heading to Malcolm's office and stuck with her for the duration.  Not a lot new to report – my thoughts from show 25 basically cover it – but that isn’t in any way a problem.  I did see one new thing – or at least, I noticed one thing for the first time.  When Hecate (Elizabeth Romanski) collected her tears, it knocked Agnes out cold for a good 10-20 seconds.  Hecate was already long gone by the time Agnes managed to recover enough to pull out the photo.  It's an interesting take on the exchange, emphasizing the idea that whatever Hecate is doing has some sort of magical effect on Agnes - it’s not just a harvest. I dig it.

And then the show was basically over. I followed Agnes down to the ballroom, and she walked me back to the Manderley.  It was a lovely way to close out the show and the weekend.

Second loop: Annie Rigney's Catherine Campbell.  Like her Lady MacDuff from the night before, Annie's Catherine Campbell was solid, but I am having some trouble nailing down a sense of specific personality, or what makes this rendition unique.  It just feels like a good, baseline version of the character.  Which isn't a bad thing, it just doesn't leave me with much to say.  I did get a much better sense of her dancing in this loop, and I was impressed – the solo in the MacDuff suite was a standout.  Also, Annie's general demeanor (or what I can tell of it) seems to be a better fit here than it was for Lady MacDuff.

Third loop: Stephanie Crousillat's Nurse Shaw.  I saw just a bit of Stephanie during my second loop, and I was struck by her appearance.  Stephanie is beautiful in an old-fashioned sort of way, so when you see her in her wig and nurse's uniform, it really does feel like the 1940's.  As often seems to be the case these days, her specific bits of interstitial activity were different from what the other performers are doing – they all seem to be coming up with their own stuff, none of which involves cutting bits out of a book for scenes on end, thankfully.  I particularly liked the bit where she was writing on the rocks that made up the rock man in the bed.  I didn't get to see her 1:1, which is unfortunate since I feel like that's where you can often get the best sense of a performer's take on their character.  Another guy and I reached forward at the same time (after two others refused to take her hand!), and I decided to back up and wave him forward, since he seemed kind of tentative and probably newer to the show.  Part of me feels good about that and part of me really regrets it.  Ah, well – it gives me a good reason to come back to the loop someday.

During this loop, I was also introduced to Ryan van Compernolle's Matron, who seems to be quite the departure from the Matrons I'm used to.  I didn't see much of her, but it was enough to make me very interested in getting a better look next time I come across her.  She’s. . . . scary.  The new end of show business was a little bit different from the night before with Marissa and Megh – less involved, and perhaps a bit less interesting.  It still had its own unique strengths, in particular a few moments that would have been very creepy for anyone who happened to stumble across us.  At the end, Stephanie walked me out, which was lovely.

Saturday 3/14 Late

First Loop: Marissa Maislen's Agnes. What luck!  I can't believe I actually got to follow both Mallory and Marissa as Agnes in the same night.  It was just as great as the last time, and even had a few new bits that I don't think she did before, such as a bit of dialogue while making the locket or the fact that she didn't take all of Fulton's money – she just counted out what she needed and left most of it behind.  That one melted my heart a bit.  Last time I followed Marissa, I commented that the thing that set her apart was the sense of fear that she had, but after a second go-around, I don't think that's quite right.  A better way to put it is that she feels precarious.  She's very clearly putting up a front when she deals with people, and what I previously described as fear is really more the sense of that facade cracking and crumbling.  And yes, what you see underneath is largely fear – but it's the two personas coexisting, with the one teetering on the edge of collapse into the other, that gives such emotional weight to her performance.  She's the only one that I've caught poking through Fulton's desk before he even leaves the room, as if she doesn't have the patience or the stamina to keep up the act.  Speaking of impatience – my very favorite thing in the entire hour may well have been the fantastic “you have GOT to be shitting me” expression on her face when she made the phone call in the lobby and heard the phone ringing on the other side of the room (and notably, she did this before the Porter ever picked up).

As a side note, the 1:1 that I had with her was kind of special for me, because it's the first time ever – after 33 trips to The Drowned Man and 26 to Sleep No More – that I've had the same 1:1 with the same performer for a second time.  It was very cool to see that even if everything about the situation is the same, the experience always can (and probably will) be tweaked just enough to keep it unique.

Second Loop: Matty Oaks' Porter.  I love this loop.  There's so little in the hotel that can really be classified as “fun,” and most of it can be found right here.  So much sass.  In fact, there's enough sass that it actually does make it a little harder to feel as sad for him as one might expect to in a Porter loop – which could be considered a criticism, but to me, it's more of a worthwhile trade-off.  Having that tonal variance is really great, and makes it all feel just a bit more Drowned-Man-ish. I did this loop back in October (sans 1:1), so it was also really nice to be able to come back and fill in that last missing piece. The 1:1 is actually a point where the different tones work in perfect harmony – the end of it, particularly the trip from the office back out to the lobby, is pretty sad.  It's also hilarious.  But then I felt bad for laughing at it, making it even more sad.

Third Loop: Marc Cardarelli's Taxi and Marla Phelan's Lady Macbeth. I spent the first half of the last loop with the new Taxidermist, who had been on at all four shows.  He seems a little rougher and less mannered than some of the others I've seen – certainly less outwardly and affectedly weird, at any rate. I liked what I saw, and I definitely intend to come back for a full loop someday, despite embarrassing myself at the tool placement game (three tries!). Perhaps that failure is why he passed me over for the 1:1 both times. After the second time, I decided not to wait around since he wasn't going to have much to do for the rest of the show.  Instead, I returned to Lady Macbeth for the remainder, because of course I did.  I already covered this loop in the last write-up, but it continues to be massively engaging.  Having come downstairs with Lady M, I wound up at the side of the banquet table for the finale, and afterward, the Bald Witch grabbed me for the walkout.  I was halfway up the stairs before I realized she was Stephanie Crousillat, And although I remembered that she had walked me out before, some time in the past, my memories were blurring and jumbling enough that I didn't realize that it was actually my second walkout with her that very same night until a good hour after the show ended.

Second loop: Emily Oldak's Sexy Witch. This was a partial loop – from the ballroom to her post-rave solo dance.  I commented on how great she was back in January (so no need to go back into that), and if anything she's even better now.   That epic wet hair toss in her solo dance has gotten even bigger, and now involves two full whirls.   I was also struck by how tiny and pathetic she appears at the end of that scene, just before Hecate puts her back together.  Plus, I finally had her 1:1 this time, which was very nice (especially for someone like me, who carries all of his tension in the shoulders).

Third loop: This is where things got a bit more disjointed.  I was going to switch to Agnes (Lily Ockwell) or the Porter (Paul Zivkovich), but wound up with Ginger Kearns' Hecate, doing the note-fetching task bookended by 1:1's.  I'm pleased to report that, for the first time, I didn't go down the wrong stairwell. In fact, I was so worried about being late (last time, I was so late that she just threw my note in the corner, laughed, and took someone else in to the 1:1), that I managed to make it back just as she was stepping out into High Street.   I'm not entirely sure what to make of Ginger's Hecate – she didn't really seem all that evil to me, at least in the open scenes.  I would have almost called her somewhat sympathetic.  Somewhat.  However, once we got in to the second 1:1 (which I had never had before), she went completely nuts, in the best possible way.  I will certainly not forget those three minutes anytime soon.  Once that was all done, I wound up picking up one of the new Lady MacDuffs, Annie Rigney, for the last few scenes. She did well with the role, but I don't have a lot to say about it because I didn't see much that seemed really specific or unique to her.  I imagine that will change over time.  At any rate, I didn’t see anything about her that I disliked either.

Following Lady MacD to the banquet left me on the right side of the room for Emily/Sexy to grab me for the walkout, which was a great capper to an even better first show.

Friday 3/13 Late

First loop: Isabel Umali's Sexy Witch. I wasn't planning to do two Sexy Witch loops in one night, but hey – she was a new Sexy Witch, so I couldn't help myself.  I was quite impressed by what I saw.  She's almost absurdly limber, which served her well in the autopsy and the post-rave solo.  Actually, her duo with Banquo stood out as particularly impressive as well.  So A+ for the dancing.  That said, I wish she would take more advantage of the fact that SW is able to see the audience, and toy with them more. She didn't do the turn-and-wait at the top of the stairs at all, and though I definitely saw some flirty glances here and there, I didn’t see as many of them, or much/any of the little bits of physical contact, as I would expect when a Sexy Witch is really having fun with the role.  But again, I wouldn't be surprised if that were to happen as she settles in and becomes more comfortable.  And she does seem to be working in her own personal touches already – the pre-ballroom dance felt very different from my previous experiences, and she added a really cool little bit immediately following the 1:1 that I'd never seen before (I'm told Leslie Kraus also does it, but she didn't when I followed her).  At any rate, the key word here is “promising.”  I'm excited to do another loop with Isabel next time I'm out, because based on what I saw here, I have the feeling that after she's had some time with the role she could be one of the greats.

Side note: Luke Murphy loves himself some blood.  I came away from the rave splattered all over, up and down my arms, my shirt, my pants. . . I smelled like chocolate for the rest of the show.  I even realized when packing to go home that I could identify the mask I wore that night by the blood splatter.

Second loop: Emily Oldak's Agnes. She's probably the most savvy Agnes I've seen – she knows what she's doing, and even though the witches prove to be stronger than her, it doesn’t really feel like she’s in danger of losing control of the situation until the final moments. This is probably best demonstrated in her Hecate scene, where she took the shot that was poured for her and threw it out instead of drinking it.  This is kind of on the far end of the Agnes spectrum from how I prefer the character, but Emily has a strong rendition of that type of Agnes.  Also, I should note that there has been a change to how Agnes deals with 1:1's that resulted  in me getting it when I otherwise might not have.  I won't say what they're doing, but I would definitely consider it a change for the better.

Third loop: Marissa Maislen's Nurse Shaw.  Since I had done two complete loops, I got upstairs while she was in the 1:1.  This was a great disappointment to me, because it meant I had missed the possessed limb dance, which I love – especially when Marissa does it.  I was paying closer attention to how she moves this time, after having noticed her very specific way of walking as Catherine Campbell back in January.  Turns out, Marissa has given Nurse Shaw a similarly unique gait, a sort of shuffle/stumble, as if she hadn't quite mastered the use of her limbs yet.  It's great.  Also, it's worth pointing out that almost none of her interstitial activities were the same as what I had seen last time I followed her – she's mixing things up a bit.

Then came the biggest, nicest surprise of the night.  Following the mirrored dance through the hedges, the Nurse and Matron (Megh Dixon) didn't retreat into a locked hut like I expected, and a black mask didn't come to shoo us away.  Instead, they split up like they would have in an earlier loop.  I followed Marissa back to the operating room where, to my great delight, she repeated the possessed limb dance!  Obviously, she wasn't doing this just because I had missed it earlier, but it almost kind of felt that way.  I won't describe what happens next to avoid spoilers for new stuff, but let's just say that third loop on the fifth floor is now much more satisfying than it used to be.  I ultimately wound up next to Marissa/Nurse Shaw at the banquet/execution, and she gave me the walkout and the squeeze beforehand, which she did in a very cool way.  As Macbeth climbed up the table, she placed her hand on mine, then slowly creepy-crawled up my arm and across my shoulders until she had kind of enveloped me – and then buried her face in my shoulder as the chair was pulled away.  It was a perfect way for that character to do it – really encapsulated her personality in just a few movements.  Marissa continues to impress me more and more every time I see her.