Theater is not always easy to watch.
Sometimes art will force your mind to wrestle with it, and upon leaving you will either leave stronger or somewhat defeated.
One of the few productions in Dallas this fall that asks the audience to struggle with it is Broken Gears Project Theatre’s “The Pitchfork Disney.”
Phillip Ridley’s one act play has been challenging audiences for nearly 20 years. When it opened in New York, The New York Times called it “a descent into a black hole of disturbance.”
Thanks to the strength of BGPT’s staging of this play, Dallas audiences are in for a sinister, somewhat strenuous show.
But don’t let that keep you away, even if you should be scared.
“The Pitchfork Disney” is an experience unlike any other. The audience is literally the guest in Broken Gears’ new home, which has been masterfully redecorated as the house that the twins Haley (Misty Venters) and Prestley (Clay Wheeler) inhabit.
Wheeler and Venters skillfully occupy this world of adult, sexually confused childhood, hiding from the world in their shambles of a home, which is in a state of disturbing disarray thanks to Cindy Ernst’s disconcerting design.
Everything about the play blurs the line between nightmare and reality, between fear and comfort.
These 28-year-old children who grew up watching Disney are now living out a terrifying existence in which the only comfort is to imagine they are the only humans left, a la Samuell Beckett.
If about 45 minutes into the play you aren’t already unhinged by the twins, enter Cosmo Disney (Joey Folsom).
Folsom’s understated incubus of this nightmare adds a sense of detached calm, which although lacking in energy serves as a frustrating juxtaposition to the deranged Prestley.
The Pitchfork half of the title enters at what would be the climax of the play, if the entire play didn’t feel like one giant crescendo, and is the icing on this crazed chocolate cake.
Halloween might be over, but this haunted house runs through Saturday.
If you’re ready for a night of challenging, creepy theater – this show is for you.
For more information, visit, www.brokengearstheatre.com.
