REVIEW: Natural and supernatural lessons in Company One’s ‘Haunted’
What more could be haunting this haunted house?
Spiritually stuck in the Y2K era and in an often vacant house for the past 20 years, two indigenous brother ghosts long to rise to the great beyond and reunite with Creator and their ancestors. However, something more is haunting this house beyond the antics they use to chase prospective home buyers away. Using dance as escapism and as a way to cope, Bradley Lewis depicts an over the top Ash who never had the chance to grow up while older brother Aaron, portrayed with reticence by Chingwe Padraig Sullivan, carries a lot that he cannot move beyond as well.
Written, directed and choreographed by Tara Moses, Company One presents thought provoking horror comedy Haunted continuing live and in person in Rabb Hall at the Boston Public Library through Saturday, February 15. The show runs approximately two hours with one 15 minute intermission and tickets are available at a pay what you can basis. Click here for more information and for tickets.
Y2K reigns supreme as two brothers are culturally frozen in time having never moved beyond Ash’s adoration of Britney Spears or Aaron rocking out to Creed since their deaths in 2003. However, Danielle Delafuente’s scenic design reflects how frequently time marches on as books, furniture and portraits change as the brothers imagine and fret over an all too predictable future. A nice touch is the ice film on the windows to indicate paranormal activity. However, the brothers often play music and can make the living see things, yet it is a wonder why the living do not acknowledge when Ash plays one song after another. Is the living so steeped in their world that they cannot hear or see what is playing on a boom box?
Elmer Martinez’s symbolic lighting and Aubrey Dube’s foreboding sound design builds intensity and keeps the lines of communication going embodying this unknown entity through flashing pink and purple lights, ominous chimes and illuminated images on the walls.
With the exception of the two brothers and JāQuan Malik Jones as Vincent, the remaining cast members portray a number of unlikable stereotypes. From a righteous Quaker to a scholarly intellectual historian, Evan Turissini often portrays these shallow characters with a mix of dark humor and audacity while Katherine Callaway and Tanya Avendaño Stockler become increasingly more manipulative with each newcomer. The ghosts often make assumptions everyone acts a certain way perhaps in fear of being disappointed. It might have been more intriguing if Vincent and the brothers saw more than one side of these characters.
On the flip side, JāQuan Malik Jones delivers an impressive performance as level headed Vincent whose actions are anything but predictable. Lewis as Ash and Sullivan as Aaron share a likable rapport as paranormal brothers whose bickering and conflicts often stem from too much time together, but they also share a mutual respect partly due to this supernatural bonding time.
Haunted has some inconsistencies and may have benefited by a shorter run time, but offers a lot of educational insights into man’s connection to the land, indigenous culture, the Land Back movement, and how one can learn more and contribute to change.
Company One presents thought provoking horror comedy Haunted continuing live and in person in Rabb Hall at the Boston Public Library through Saturday, February 15. The show runs approximately two hours with one 15 minute intermission and all tickets are available at a pay what you can basis. Click here for more information and for tickets.
