Press Releases

Going into the foolsFURY Incubator/Shotgun Lab staging of Monster in the Dark is, in a number of ways, like walking in the dark. The publicity for the work-in-progress, playing Mondays and Tuesdays at the Ashby Stage, dwells on the theme, ‘what are you irrationally afraid of?’—and that the show is a work-in-progress, an exploration, and not much more than that. 

Wondering what you’ll be seeing, trying to anticipate, is a big element of the audience’s role in any type of theater, particularly approaching more experimental, movement-oriented troupes like foolsFURY, founded by Ben Yalom in 1998. “Our work is immediate and visceral,” reads the company credo. But foolsFURY doesn’t eschew text. 

Ben himself comes from a literary background, and the group has performed adaptations of older dramatic and literary classics (Jacques and His Master, from Diderot’s novel, and The Illusion, after Corneille’s play), as well as contemporary works, like Mrozek’s short, absurdly humorous social allegories or last year’s staging of Don DeLillo’s Valparaiso. Their ongoing exploration of new themes and modes of production development is always worth following. 

Entering Monster in the Dark is an unusual experience in itself. Each spectator receives on entrance, well, personal treatment—a little reminiscent of a haunted house, or carny sideshows without the barking. There’re attractions to be experienced, and at the end, in a real eye-opener, the spectator finds him-or-herself watching—already in the audience, but more like a voyeur gawking at other spectators still among the grotesques, an overview of what was just a personal foray into this hall of shadows and whispers.  

The show itself is no more immediately frameable—vignettes, tableaux, routines are played out in succession as if on a revolving stage. Soon it becomes apparent there’s continuity, three situations or storylines and that there’s some connection between them: on the dungeon set for Shotgun’s The Just (playing on weekends), a little group gathers at sunset around a black cube in a square of light, muttering things like: “It’s not today.” “Today IS today!” and begins to perform an obscure ritual. 

Meanwhile, there are ongoing episodes of a caregiver addressing the audience of her growing distaste for the helpless old woman she takes care of, acted out in jagged (and strangely humorous) poses, intercut with people in a cellar listening to weather reports on the radio as flood waters rise and others literally stream in, some praising the maker (“Thank you in advance for a sign!”), alternating with a row of instructors right in the audience’s face, voicing explanations from flood myths. 

The ensemble is tight and expresses great range in performing, including Davina Cohen, Deborah Ben-Eliezar, Ben Eckstein, Brian Livingstone of foolsFURY, and Emily Jordan, who’s collaborated with Shotgun. 

Maybe least integrated into the web of interrelated stories, but a gem on its own, is the feminized take on Poe’s “Tell-Tale Heart,” with remarkable timing, lights and performance, from the first utterance of “vulture’s eye” to the tableau the trench-coated detectives are presented with when the “ringing in the ears” becomes unbearable. 

The designers—Alex Lopez, lights; Patrick Kalinski, sound (snatches of music, insinuating whispers—and effects made by the cast on kitchen utensils); Lindsey Peck Scherloom, costumes (the detectives’ first appearance reveals her work in puppets and sculpture)—have given a work-in-progress the feel of a professional show, developing great textures for all the senses.  

Ben Yalom commented on the collaboration with Shotgun, “the first real joint project for the Shotgun Lab ... It’s a great collaboration, coming at a time when we’ve brought new actors into our company, a new sound designer and literary manager, and plan regular training sessions—it’s infused the existing company with new energy.” 

Yalom says the “talkback” sessions after the performances have been the most fruitful he remembers. 

“There’s an audience developing of those who go out to see works-in-progress, whether at Shotgun Lab, foolsFURY or wherever, who enjoy having a voice, have something to say about what they’ve seen,” he says. 

With the increase in staged readings all over the Bay Area in recent years, it could be the beginning of a new era of audience participation in the process of making theater—and Shotgun Lab and foolsFURY are right at the forefront.