There’s a strange rumbling coming from underneath the Red Sandcastle Theatre…could it be a portal to the lost land of Lemuria? You’ll have to experience Phantasmagoria 3D! to find out! Performed and created by Kira Hall, Michelle Urbano and Eric Woolfe, Phantasmagoria 3D! brings historical horror to the big screen in a way that only Eldritch Theatre can.
Eric Woolfe begins the show with his customary slight-of-hand magic tricks, yet for this production there are extraordinary elements which make these illusions unique to Phantasmagoria 3D! I am perpetually awed at the magic which I get to see as part of the Eldritch shows; even if there’s only a few illusions, they always have a way of being a part of the show and I can NEVER figure out how they’re done. I also love that for this production, Woolfe isn’t exactly speaking English, it’s more like the Minions, yet somehow in his robe and tin-foil crown, the whole thing worked.
He then launches into the meat of the story, which is told through letters to the editor of a magazine. This magazine publishes strange stories and so the writer has been sending in his real life struggles and they’re being published in this magazine! He regales us with stories of underground monsters, long-nosed demons, and changeling spouses. These terrifying tales will send a shiver down your spine!
Phantasmagoria 3D! is unlike anything you’ve seen on stage: the puppetry is all done as shadow puppetry which helps in making the entire show 3D! Hall and Urbano use flat shadow puppets, the more traditional Eldritch puppets, as well as themselves, to create the wonderfully weird world that Woolfe’s character finds himself in. And then, with 3D technology by Micha Dayan and developed by The Coalmine Theatre, the shadows they create are seemingly hovering out over the audience. I even found myself reaching out a few times because it looked as if I could reach out and grab them! To wear little blue and red 3D glasses for the whole show was so nostalgic and perfect; it totally fits into their theme of bringing the horror spectacles of old to the B-movie horror age.
As always, Eric Woolfe delights both as a magician and teller of tales. It’s truly a treat to be welcomed into these spooky worlds and dive into his imagination. There are things I’ve come to expect which I don’t feel like an Eldritch show would be complete without, like the mention of the Dread Necronomicon of the Mad Arab Abdul Alhazred. I knew so little about Lovecraft before coming to Eldritch Theatre’s shows and now I have this whole other vocabulary which Woolfe has taught me! Hall and Urbano are fantastic behind the screen, creating the world Woolfe gets to play in. Their artistry is dazzling, and the way they’re able to work together to create the spectacle we see must require scads of planning and rehearsing.
Phantasmagoria 3D! has everything you love about an Eldritch Theatre production with a new and exciting twist that’ll leave you wanting more (or running away creaming from the theatre depending on whose version of the future you believe).
Phantasmagoria 3D! runs until November 10th at the Red Sandcastle Theatre. For more information and tickets, visit: https://eldritchtheatre.ca/phantasmagoria3D/
Cover Photo: Eric Woolfe in Phantasmagoria 3D!
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