Review: Mercurial Theatre Makes Impressive Debut with THE COLOR OUT OF SPACE

Howard Phillips Lovecraft was an American author who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror fiction. Virtually unknown and only published in pulp magazines, he died in poverty at the age of 46, and is only now regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century authors in his genre. THE COLOR OUT OF SPACE is a short story written in March 1927. In the tale, an unnamed narrator pieces together the story of an area known by the locals as the "blasted heath" in the wild hills west of Arkham, Massachusetts. The narrator discovers that many years ago a meteorite crashed there, poisoning every living being nearby. The vegetation grows large, but is inedible due to a metallic taste, animals go mad and are grotesquely deformed, and the people go insane and die one by one. Seeking to create a truly alien life form, he drew inspiration from numerous fiction and nonfiction sources. First appearing in the September 1927 edition of Amazing Stories, THE COLOR OUT OF SPACE became one of Lovecraft's most popular works, and remained his personal favorite short story. It was adapted into feature film versions in 1965, 1987, and 2010.

Forbidden knowledge is a central theme in many of Lovecraft's works. His characters are often driven by curiosity or scientific endeavor, and in many of his stories the knowledge they uncover proves so Promethean in nature that it leaves the character regretting or destroyed from what they have learned or being destroyed psychically. In the case of THE COLOR OUT OF SPACE, all of these are true.

In this stage version, three strangers, Garrett Hayes (Justin West), Professor John Moore (Timothy Olivares) and reporter Lillian Fayette (Amber Shantel Hales), arrive on an isolated farm, only to find that their host Nahum Gardner (Dustin Velasquez) is nowhere to be found. As night approaches, dread builds as friends of the missing family, Ammi Pierce (Richard Anthony Gallegos) and his brother Brennan (Michael Rodriguez) divulge what has happened since the fateful day when a meteor crashed on the land. When the missing farmer turns up without his family, his madness may be the fate of all who entered that place and saw the indescribable color outside of the visible spectrum.

Adapted and directed by company co-founder Dan Wolff, this is the first stage version of the HP Lovecraft short story which was his first attempt at blurring the lines between science fiction and horror. While this is considered a horror piece, it really seems more to me of the terror genre than horror. It certainly is about the fear of the unknown.

Wolff has done a nice job adapting the story for the stage and it builds nicely in tension. He wisely did not try to do the complete story, leaving the audience to try to determine what happens to everyone when the color reappears. I also liked his blocking the action to physical light sources, leaving a lot of dark and shadow surrounding the actors. Unfortunately the wattage of the bulbs was so dim that most of the time the actor's faces were in such extreme darkness that any kind of subtle action or reaction was completely obscured. This made it very difficult to judge the performances when you only have voices, like in a radio drama.

Described by the director/adapter himself as a company that strives to do actor driven works, this piece plays well into that mission. Good solid performances were the standard for the performance. Playing insanity is very hard to do without going over the top into the realm of being unbelievable. Unfortunately, both the performances of Richard Anthony Gallegos and Dustin Velasquez were more appropriate for a proscenium stage or a larger venue. In this intimate space they were too big and in the case of Mr. Gallegos, too loud, to mesh with the work of the rest of the company. The end result is that they seemed to be in a different play than the rest of the cast.

Shortcomings aside, THE COLOR OUT OF SPACE was an impressive first outing for the new Mercurial Theatre, and I look forward to future offerings.

THE COLOR OUT OF SPACE Adapted from the original short story by Dan Wolff

Running time: 70 minutes, no intermission

THE COLOR OUT OF SPACE, produced by Mercurial Theatre at Space 12 (3121 E 12th Street, Austin, TX, 78702)

Ran June 17 - July 02, 2016

Tickets $16.82 including fees online or $20 at the door.

www.mercurialtheatre.com

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