Too much, too close. That about sums up BaLaylah production of Midnight At The Rue Morgue - a promenade piece based on the writings of the titular horror poet. Denizens of the Rueful Morgana populate theSpace cabaret bar: doctor, dancer, tarot-reader, ventriloquist, all presided over by a spritely mesmerist with the power to force confessions from their mouths. If only she’d taken a bit longer about it.
We are encouraged to engage with the performers, to discover their characters for ourselves. This was great for the grand total of two minutes I got to do it. I loved talking with the nervous, jittery Rowena Wilson, whom had recently been separated from her conjoined twin (alas, the other did not survive the operation) and was marrying her (now ex) husband. It all sounded very suspicious. All too swiftly, however, the set performance began and I did not get another chance to talk with the characters. They also all began at once, overlapping each other and never really taking a break. It was all very distracting. When several energetic characters are shouting conflicting stories over each other in a confined space it becomes very difficult to concentrate on any one thing. The most unfortunate aspect of this was that the softly spoken yet intense Dr Egaeus Fowler was often drowned out by the more brash personae a mere few metres away.
If I simply missed my chances to converse with the performers, it certainly was not obvious. Only the slightly manic tarot-reader actively went out of his way to pull unsuspecting audience members into his booth for a personal performance. The show could have done with staggering focal points a little more to allow full attention to one or two stories at any one time and give us a chance to explore these people’s stories ourselves.
Since everyone is very close it would not have been hard to delve deep into multiple characters’ backstories but as it was I didn’t learn very much about anyone save for Rowena. The performances of Poe’s poems didn’t exactly offer a plethora of answers, particularly when there are four going on at once.
Also, why did the show close with The Raven? There was no discernible reason for these characters to drop their story arc and perform Poe’s most famous work. It was a little bit of a cheap and lazy way to end the production. Lose it.
What this show needs is more engagement, more intimacy. I wanted to be a conspirator, a confidant. Instead, I was left out in the cold.
