Macabre Tales of Horror and Macabreness (kinda?) 10 Year HELLebration

Puppy in Pants Productions—Tom Hendry Warehouse

Even before the show started, zombies weaved their way through the audience, creeping among the audience members. One of the zombies edged up to me and menacingly hinted that I should turn off my phone. This was 10 minutes to showtime, but ok, I’m not attached to the phone anyway. Curiously, the zombies did not bother any other viewer looking at their phones. Still, it’s best practice to turn your phones off—ESPECIALLY HERE!

Another hint before the show begins: sit in the middle section for the best viewing experience!

I didn’t count the number of speakers in the theatre but I imagine the Warehouse Theatre would have state-of-the-art surround sound systems. Unfortunately, it sounded like all of the sound came out of the centre, like
the old mono and it was a bit tough to hear for those of us off to the side.

Being the first show, there was some slight timing issues, and a couple of prop issues, but the cast managed to cover them up quite well and delivered a smooth show despite them. They probably could have hammed up the “broken headlight” but it still worked.

Even though the show is titled Macabre Tales of Horror and Macabreness, it could easily have been titled “Tales of Horror and Cuteness.” There was a lot of cuteness to go around. And dancing skeletons? Yeah.

The show started a bit slow but picked up speed fast. When I say “slow,” I don’t mean the content was slow; it just seemed the actors’ enthusiasm needed some time to pick up. By the time the first skit was dismembered, we were at cruising speed.

Ray Yuen