Ten Questions. Ten Answers. And One Big Decision: Rock, Paper, Or Scissors?
Something Wicked
Production Company: Everyday Inferno Theatre Company
“The Queen, my lord, is dead.” Lady Macbeth awakes to a purgatory created from her own gruesome misdeeds. Unsure whether her final destination is Heaven or Hell, and guided by three gleefully tormenting witches, she searches for answers… and her lost love… in the mind-bending hereafter. Something Wicked rips open Shakespeare’s classic text to find the beating heart of a new tale that pulses with dance, music, and dark humor, guaranteeing a haunting and lively evening for all who attend.
Show Times:
- Thurs 2/20 @ 10:15pm
- Sun 2/23 @ 5:15pm,
- Tues 2/25 @ 8:40pm
- Sat 3/1 @ 2:05pm
- Sat 3/8 @ 8:25pm
Answers by Anais Koivisto (Director & Adaptor)
1. Your tag line is out there on postcards and press releases so we know the PR version of what this play is about. But when you talk to your family and friends, how do you explain the show to them?
AK: I polled a couple of people involved in the production for a good answer to this question and got: “Terry Gilliam picks up where Shakespeare leaves off.”
Makes you want to see it, amiright? Our play picks up at the exact moment of Lady Macbeth’s suicide and then follows her as she makes a journey through the afterlife. It’s a play about guilt, desire, love, hate, forgiveness – you know, all the sexy stuff. And then there’s also dancing. And live music. We’ve got a ridiculously talented cast.
2. Here’s a scenario: After the show some audience members go have a drink. What’s the part of the show you hope they’re discussing?
AK: I hope they’re saying how kick ass it was (and that they happen to be very enthusiastic and wealthy patrons of the arts)… but also that they are considering the final moment of the show: making their own decisions about what happens to our leading lady after the lights go down. Either that or they’re talking about how hot the tango was.
3. What drives your show – character, theme or plot?
AK: Oh boy. This is like the Sophie’s Choice of interview questions. Can I say all of them? No? Ok… well then… I’m going to go with character in that case. We’re delving a bit deeper into Lady M’s psyche than we get a chance to in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. We’re trying to get a sense of what makes her tick.
4. In rehearsals, read-thrus, or prior incarnations, what’s the one thing someone said about the show so far that made you (or the team) the most proud?
AK: Hands down the feedback I’ve been most proud of so far was that we’ve given Lady Macbeth her due. She’s a brilliant creation – absolutely one of my favorite of Shakespeare’s women – but she has surprisingly little actual stage time considering her enduring impact on popular culture. In our production, she never leaves the stage!
5. Let’s fantasize for a moment. Let’s take the “off-off” off. Imagine this show is on Broadway. Would that change the production itself?
AK: We would definitely add a full kick-line of dancing Hell minions to follow Lady Macbeth in her journey and provide a little extra zip to the musical numbers. Seriously, though… while I could imagine a gorgeous off-Broadway production of Something Wicked, I think Broadway itself would be too large for the piece we’ve created. Our show deals with some powerful emotions in an intimate and honest way; I think the opportunity to see that journey taken by the characters up close is one of its greatest strengths.
6. Taking that one step further – after paying everyone what they’re worth of course, what is the most lavish, luxurious, pointless thing you would spend money on if there was no constraints?
AK: Since the aforementioned kick-line has already been taken care of, I think the next logical step would be to add in a 100 person choreographed stage battle to flesh out the reality of Macbeth’s death. That, or put the witches on wires and fly them around the space for the entire play (tagline: “It’s like Turn off the Dark… with murder!).
7. Is there a scene, a moment, a gesture … anything at all in the show that you anticipate may get a completely different reaction depending on the audience that night?
AK: Several characters from Shakespeare’s Macbeth are given a chance to speak to Lady M from beyond the grave in Something Wicked. The way in which one of them chooses to use that opportunity is unexpected – I think that the audience’s opinions on the choice he makes will definitely vary from person to person and night to night.
8. What’s your favorite line from the show?
AK: About 99% of our text is Shakespeare’s so, you know, it’s all pretty great. My impulse is to say that my favorite line is: “This place is too cold for Hell.” It’s a line we use several times in different key moments of the piece, and it never fails to send a little shiver down my back.
9. Is the world of this play sustainable outside a theatre? In other words … do you think people live the way the characters do? Would you want a world where they do?
AK: Well, none of our characters are alive anymore, so let’s hope not! I can say that I certainly hope that whatever form the afterlife takes, it doesn’t look at all like the one in our play. Then again, since I’m not a serial murderess, I suspect I might have an easier judgement process than our Lady M even if it does.
10. You scan the audience and you see a face that stops you dead in your tracks – who is it? And why are you shocked?
AK: It’s one of those creepy masks from Sleep No More and I’m freaking out because, let’s be honest, they’re terrifying.
Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH
In the THM virtual Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH which FRIGID Show do you take on? And what do you throw?
CHALLENGES: I’m going to say we’ll take on our competition in supernatural subject matter: Real Dead Ghosts.
THROWS: Scissors seem an appropriately knife-like throw for our show.
Well! This is exciting! Real Dead Ghosts threw ROCK in their interview so unfortunately, Something Wicked, you have been CRUSHED. The Queen, my lord, IS dead! But don’t worry! There are other players coming up and any one of them could have taken you on and thrown paper in which case you will reign victorious. Don’t forget, you’re officially SCISSORS in any and all challenges. You may win, you may lose – who knows! This is how it works in the crazy world of the Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH!
Thanks Something Wicked for participating in The Happiest Medium’s FRIGID New York Festival 2014 Q&A. And for playing our game!
For the rest of you don’t forget to check out Something Wicked !
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Horse Trade Theater Group will present the 8th Annual FRIGID New York Festival at The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A) February 19-March 9. Tickets are available for purchase in advance at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling 212-868-4444.
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