Photo courtesy of North Shore Theatre Productions.
North Shore Theatre Productions, a D.C.-based company specializing in one-person performances through its Solo Classics Series, presents a chilling and captivating adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s best-known story, “The Call of Cthulhu,” with the exceptional Greg Oliver Bodine, who also wrote the adaptation, telling the tale.
…an excellent new entry into North Shore Theatre Productions’ solo series…
Francis “X” is a patient at Lovecraft’s Arkham Sanitarium in Massachusetts. The urbane Francis has been selected to address the inaugural conference of the American Psychiatric Association one stormy afternoon in 1928 about what his doctors call a very intricate delusion. Over the course of a little over an hour, Francis recounts the discovery of notes left by a relative that purport to unveil the existence of a lost city called R’lyeh, home to a malevolent hibernating entity named Cthulhu.
With an eerie calm, Bodine flawlessly takes the audience deep into the mystery of Cthulhu and the bizarre cult that surrounds the dormant Old One. Bodine maintains a spellbindingly measured demeanor throughout, capturing the paradoxical style of Lovecraft’s writings, which use a sedate and scholarly tone to describe the most outlandish and horrifying things.
Sound design by Bodine and director DeLisa M. White is sparing but effective, with occasional muffled screams to remind us that we are inside a macabre asylum. Lighting by Asia Christian and graphics by Paula Hoza add to the mood, with intermittent projections of the cult’s mantra “Cthulhu fhtagn” punctuating Francis’s story.
While the cozy space of the Capital Fringe Bliss space gives “The Call of Cthulhu” an air of intimacy, the production suffers somewhat from the staging area itself. This is a show that is begging for a black box, not the fresh-looking white wall behind Bodine which also makes it hard for some of the projections to be seen. This, alas, is just one of the realities of staging a show at Capital Fringe.
“The Call of Cthulhu” is an excellent new entry into North Shore Theatre Productions’ solo series, and it merits a visit to Arkham Sanitarium in the final days of Fringe.
Running Time: One hour and 15 minutes with no intermission.
Advisory: Recommended for ages 13 and up.
“The Call of Cthulhu” has remaining performances July 19, 20, and 21, 2024 at Capital Fringe Bliss, 1122 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington 20036. For information and tickets, go online. For more information and to purchase tickets for the festival, which runs through July 21, 2024, go to the Capital Fringe website.
