About
the Play:
The Eldritch Plays is a collection of three full-length
plays by Eric Woolfe. This
"suburban gothic
trilogy" includes the well-received Sideshow of the
Damned, the quintessential fringe show The Strange and Eerie
Memoirs of Billy Wuthergloom, and the critically-acclaimed
Grendelmaus. Gothic, witty
and theatrical, the plays in this collection will introduce you to an
irresistible and highly original dramatic voice whose
unique style uses live actors combined with puppets, simple stylized
special effects, humour, and horror. Visit
Eric Woolfe's world –
if you dare!
Sideshow of the Damned brings us a panoply of Eric
Woolfe characters: mad scientists, werewolves, would-be
necromancers and ghouls – juxtaposed against the quotidian, to
great comic effect. The show's four vignettes are narrated by an evil
Circus Barker who talks to us seamlessly through the scene
transitions with more than a nod to Shakespeare and Shaw. (Premiered
in 2001 at the Factory Studio in Toronto during the Summerworks
Theatre Festival and transferred to the Tim Sims Playhouse at Second
City; Cast: 2 women, 3 men)
What people say about Sideshow of
the Damned:
"Mad Magazine meets Barnum and
Bailey on Elm St… This carnival of the uncommonly common is a creep
show of the first order! Yuck. And Yuck!" — The
Toronto Star
"Gleeful Grand
Guignol...gorily ripped from horror comics of the 50s!" —
NOW Toronto
"It's raw, spirited,
well-performed and, not incidentally, hugely entertaining."
— Eye Magazine
The Strange and Eerie Memoirs of Billy Wuthergloom is a
solo comedy that chronicles the adolescent travails of its title hero
Billy, a small boy who leads a fairly ordinary life until puberty
when he must negotiate the thorny path between childhood and what
lies beyond. Life is not easy when there's a she-devil under your bed
and a succubus at your shoulder. And what on or under earth could be
stranger, eerier, downright scarier than looking in the mirror and
failing to recognize yourself? (Premiered in 1999 at Toronto's
Summerworks and transferred to both Buddies in Bad Times and London's
Grand Theatre; Cast: 1 man)
What people say about The Strange
and Eerie Memoirs of Billy Wuthergloom:
"Charming and Chilling at the
same time." — NOW Toronto
"It's a charming work, my
favourite so far at Summerworks." — The Toronto Star
Grendelmaus is a romantic tale of love and lust between a
craven, washed-up grad student and his high-school dream girl, a
retired circus acrobat. The two are reunited by their dull office
jobs, but torn apart by an evil mouse given supernatural powers after
nibbling on the body of the monster Grendel –the same one slain by
Beowulf in the epic poem – as well as a finicky work supervisor, an
eccentric mother, an ancient book of spells, and, naturally, love.
(Premiered in 2002 at Berkley Street Theatre in Toronto; Cast: 1
woman, 1 man)
What people say about Grendelmaus:
"Four stars... If you are in
the mood for theatrical whimsy, this is a show to relish." —
The Toronto Star
"While it may borrow from
myths and fairy tales and uses a number of colourful puppets as
characters, the delightfully twisted fable Grendelmaus
has definite adult appeal." — The Globe & Mail
"There's more inventiveness,
intelligence, fun, heart and raw talent in Grendelmaus
than you're likely to find combined in six or seven other plays of
the same size." — Eye Magazine
About the Playwright:
Eric Woolfe is a Canadian actor, playwright, puppeteer and
magician, and the Artistic Director of Eldritch Theatre, a Toronto
Company specializing in horror plays using puppetry, live actors, and
parlour magic. His works often explore a myriad of themes and often
incorporate elements of the uncanny or supernatural. These plays seek
to develop innovations in staging, including the extensive
incorporation of various forms of puppetry, mask and a post-Brechtian
approach to staging the fantastic. He is a three time nominee for the
prestigious KM Hunter Memorial Award. The World Encyclopedia of
Puppetry lists him as one of Canada's exciting new wave of notable
puppeteers.