Simon Mallett director of the upcoming production of The Bone House recalls the first time he saw the play in Edmonton. “I thought I wouldn’t be scared as I had already read the script and knew a bit about it. But it turned out to be a chilling night in the theatre” he says.
Penned by Edmonton playwright Marty Chan The Bone House opens with a lecture about serial killers courtesy of “self-proclaimed mind hunter” Eugene Crowley (Justin Michael Carriere) and his assistant Jacob (Mark Ikeda). Crowley involves the audience in his lecture by for example asking them to engage in personality tests. “It’s not audience participation but it is audience interaction” says Mallett.
While the lecture covers actual serial killers known to an audience (e.g. Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer) Crowley also discusses a fictional killer the Midnight Cowboy who is still on the loose. As part of Crowley’s presentation Gabrielle (Brianna Johnston) the only victim to survive an encounter with the Midnight Cowboy shares her story. “As the show moves forward things take a darker turn. You start to wonder if you feel safe being in the audience” says Mallett adding that people’s “personal comfort levels are stretched.”
Besides being frightening he adds The Bone House’s strength lies in the comments Chan makes about serial killers and society’s obsession with them. “He asks some pertinent questions about why we know the names of the killers and not of the victims or of the people who caught them. Why do we deify these killers? What is behind the nature of this fascination that’s such a huge part of popular culture?”
Mallett recalls being in Ontario at the time Paul Bernardo was convicted of murdering Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French. He says some people wanted to “excuse” Bernardo’s actions based on his attractive and winning appearance which is similar to the Facebook groups that emerged in support of Luka Magnotta upon his arrest for the murder and dismemberment of Jun Lin. “But nobody was doing that during Robert Pickton’s trial” adds Mallett noting that the “charming serial killer versus the secluded serial killer” is also a part of the discussion.
This production of The Bone House comes with a warning: Mallett says it is “not for the faint of heart” and is not suitable for youngsters as there are actual crime scene images used in the show as well as violent special effects. Thoughtful provocation aside the play’s horror element is perfect for those who like a fright come Halloween season. “We start in that place planting questions and then the play becomes something else in more of a Halloween way” he says adding it still manages to maintain “that edge of social commentary throughout.”
Mallett says he has wanted to do this play for a while but he didn’t consider it an appropriate fit for Downstage where he is artistic producer. As such he issued a call for collaborators specifically for artists he hadn’t worked with before and together they formed a collective called Apparition Theatre to produce it. “The idea behind the name is that an apparition can come and go while also hinting toward the fact we’re doing a spooky show” he says suggesting that if the team wants to collaborate again they can do so under the Apparition umbrella.
“The Bone House is not like most theatre shows in terms of how the audience is brought into the play. It’s a pretty unique experience and not one Calgary audiences have had a chance to experience before.”
The Bone House runs October 22 to 26 and October 28 to November 1 at Motel (Epcor Centre).
