The Life Of A College Student At Howard College

“A Night At The Theater: The Tomb Of Count Gangrene”

by Terrence Cain

Last semester I saw the very first play I had seen since I was a child in elementary school. For those of you who don't know, that was some twenty years ago for me so that would mean I was around nine or so. Anyway, that play was called Sylvia. It was a fantastic little play put on by Howard College of Big Spring's acting teacher, Kirk Davidson. It was inventive, it was funny—and sad—and it gave me a passion for plays that I never thought I would have. Well I just saw another play this Hallow's Eve called The Tomb Of Count Gangrene put on yet again by Howard College's Kirk Davidson.

So let me put a little atmosphere down for you first. When I walked into the Hall Center For The Arts I was greeted by numerous attendees who were all waiting in little groups of four or five to see the play. There were even a few who decided that they'd get in on the fun by dressing up. I did so a little myself. I wore a black shirt, slacks and shoes, and a very red tie. The tie kinda has that paint red look to it that you see in old Hammer horror films from the 1960s that they want you to think is blood but you know all too well that it is just paint. Yeah, they hadn't perfected blood scenes really until the late 1970s.

Okay, so we're all waiting in the front just outside the play room. As we were all waiting I decided to look down the hall leading to the play room where I was able to see a white plastic sheet with blood splatter patterns that looked like they were silk stained into the plastic. On top of the sheet were some plastic—or maybe they were made of plaster of paris—bones laying in various spots all over the plastic sheet. It was laid out like a long rug waiting for royalty to walk down it. My first thought was; “Finally! Someone is getting into the holiday spirit and they're not trying to be all trampy about it!” I'm sorry to say, but Halloween was way more spooky and frightening when I was growing up. Nowadays all you see is women dressing up like hookers and men dressing up like they're at some disco. Yeah, we've definitely have to get back to the scary side of Halloween, folks.

So as I looked on I saw a big bat hanging from the ceiling just above the entrance to the hall that leads to the play room. I also saw one of the ushers who was carrying an old lantern with a lit candle, which I thought was pretty cool. As they walked us into the play room some of the actors from the play were at the door hamming it up for the audience; trying to do their best to get the crowd all psyched up for the play. As I sat down in the front row I looked over the painted black set. I loved all the decorations they had there. From the bloody foot and hand prints on the floor, and some hand prints on doors and glass, to the stag on the wall covered in spider webs. It was all fantastically horrifying. I loved the fireplace as well with the skull inside and the big fat chain going in a half circle shape in front of the fireplace. Above the set was a big pinata-like spider hanging from a rope. They even had sheets covering two sets of one kind of chair. What I mean by that is there were two chairs that were of the exact same design.

So I'm starting to get a little psyched up and ready for the spooky and terrifying fun of this play called The Tomb Of Count Gangrene. As the play begins a character named Ghoulardi [played by veteran HC theater actor, Eric Ochoa] comes onto the set and speaks with a very gravelly and whinny voice in a dark brown suit, black gloves, and his face painted gray with black circles around his eyes. You can't have a dead man tell tales without looking dead, right? He was funny and great about telling people to shut their cell phones off during the play; which became a gag in the beginning where they killed a girl for using her cell phone and walking through their “tomb” as the called it.

Well as soon as Ghoulardi got going another character named Mitch [played by Tyler Hall] came in and sliced his stitched mouth open so that he could talk and ask where his wife Louise was at. It was all very funny, and I do believe that was intentional do to the fact that the overall play was very comedic. Soon after two girls known as Ethel & Gertrude [Billed as the Vampira Twins and played by April Zavala and another veteran actress, Lindsey Heckler] who are supposed to be sisters, and looking like Elvira's would be daughters by the way, come running out and acting all spastic-like and screaming; “Bodies flying!”, or at least I think so. That part is honestly a little foggy due to everything else that was going on.

Well soon after Madame Phatima [played by Courtnie Smith], a psycho loon gypsy who is blind, comes into the room. The play really didn't kick off though until after Count Gangrene [played by Justin Case] came in via his octagonal shaped old style casket. The role was hammed up pretty good and was played very well. It reminded me a lot of the old horror hosts who were on local cable access channels on Saturday nights hosting bad to fairly decent horror films. So onto the three acts of the play.

Act I: “The Spider” –

This first of three acts in the entire play was all done in the dark. The point was to make you feel like you were listening to an old radio show. This act was adapted from Wyllis Cooper's story called Lights Out! Spider. The story was about two guys in the jungle who were looking for spiders. Well they found one. A very big one. Apparently it was the size of a dog and was a vicious killer because one of the guys was eaten up fast followed by the other guy who was eaten alive by the spider's babies. This first act worked out superbly well. The voicing, done by Ryan Stockton and Will Cross, was very clear and the acting was great. I really felt like I was in the jungle with them as I watched them from afar. The sound effects really set the mood up right and gave me a chill at how real everything sounded. From chirping birds, to a soft sounding waterfall, and even bugs that could be heard buzzing around. This was definitely bumping the play up a notch from what was already a great start. I also liked the red pulsing light used to emphasize parts of the act. Very well done for sure.

Act II: “The Lake” –

The second act was based off of a Ray Bradbury story of the same name. The story is about a young woman named Sad Sara [played byAutumn Alton] who tells a tale about her childhood where she watched a friend of hers drown. It was a very dark and sad story that had its advantages in making everyone cry, but fell a slight bit short because they had set up two wireless mics for the two actors in this particular part of the play. The actress who played Sad Sara kept walking back and forth from the mic, which made me feel like someone was constantly turning the volume knob on an old radio up and down. It was a tad bit irritating honestly. I really think that this part of the play would have been best suited without mics because you could hear them talk without them. I think if this play is done up ever again that they should forego the mics. They really weren't needed. Great story and acting otherwise.

Act III: “The Witch's Game” –

Again, just as in act one, this one was played out in the dark to make you feel like you were listening to an old radio show. This act was also based off another Ray Bradbury story called The October Game. The one thing that somewhat ruined the overall mood of this act for me was the fact that me being in the front row I was able to see all the actors behind the black curtain with scripts and flashlights while they gave their performances. Now I'm sure they weren't even aware that any of us could see them, but I think they'd have been better off if they had gone further behind the set so that no one could see them because seeing them as they were made it somewhat difficult to delve deep into the imagery that was being set up for us. It was basically a Simpsons Tree House Of Horror kind of story where they talked about what physical things people would use to tell a horror story. At the end people were being murdered and dragged off, which was actually being visually used at the end of the act with flashlights shining on the actors being dragged around. It was sort of similar to the red pulses we'd be getting in act one for certain parts of the story. A great ending even if I could see the behind the scenes part of this final act.

The Program's Design –

Mindy Ralston did a fantastic job making the program for this play. It looks like an old comic book, and even had ads on the back of it. The only thing missing were those phony X-Ray Specs that were supposed to allow you to see through people's clothing. The layout of the program was great and very easy to follow. There even some great responses from Count Gangrene just like Marvel Comics had with their old soap box portions of their comic books. I loved the corny nicknames used as well. Like Count Kirk and Mindy “Arson Enthusiast” Ralston, among many others. It reminded me of all the goofy nicknames Matt Greoning and his team would use in The Simpsons for their Treehouse Of Horror specials. It really added to the atmosphere.

My Overall Opinion Of The Play –

I thought the play was fantastic from beginning to end. Nobody goofed up their lines. No one tripped and fell. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and I actually thought that the comedic angle was great. I loved Count Gangrene, Ghoulardi, the Vampira Twins, and Madame Phatima. They added to the quirkiness of the play that was trying to take a poke and a stab at its self while giving some great stories. It wasn't a dark and scary play like I had originally imagined, but that's not a bad thing. I think Howard College has most definitely got a great acting director in Kirk Davidson. He knows how to get his actors to perform at their best, and he knows what stories to tell that capture an audience's imagination. If you're looking for a great night of fun then go see one of his plays that he puts on each semester. You'll be delightfully entertained and you'll have a great time watching up and coming actors cut their teeth for what is probably their first time acting.