I recently had the pleasure of attending the world premiere reading of a new play, Theater of the Damned. While the play isn’t fully produced yet, an all-star cast of well-known comedians and actors helped bring it to life on a Saturday night in Hollywood. Writer Amit Itelman’s work can best be described as modern grand guignol. He’s the founding Artistic Director of Steve Allen Theater & Trepany House. Itelman also wrote and directed live productions Strings, Alien Encounter, and Bride of Blood.
The actors took the stage in the black box theater, binders in hand, rifling through the Theater of the Damned script. A row of microphones lined the lip of the stage, as the performers took turns coming up to the mic when they had lines to deliver and taking a seat upstage when they didn’t. The whole thing was accompanied by live Foley artist Dawn Lunsford and narrated by Jesse Merlin, giving it the feel of an old radio show.
The story itself transported the audience to Paris, where a company was preparing a grand guignol production, led by André de Lorde (the real life main author of the Grand Guignol works, played by Scott Thompson). There’s plenty of murder to be had in Theater of the Damned, and the whole thing promises to be a massively violent and bloody affair. I could almost feel the blood splatter on my face as the narrator detailed the brutal, blood-soaked carnage happening in each scene. There’s also a love story at the center of it all with characters who are easy to root for, a larger-than-life villain, and comedy throughout (as grand guignol should be!).
Theater of the Damned’s all star cast mentioned above included original SNL cast member Laraine Newman, Kids In The Hall’s Scott Thompson, comedian Kate Micucci, Erik Charles Nielson (Community), Aaron Laplante (Primal), Eric Bauza (Looney Tunes), Martin Olson (Adventure Time), along with some of Itelman’s previous collaborators Liesel Hanson, Sienna Jeakle, and Trista Robinson.
While the special event preview reading was a one night event, a recent press release promises… Theater of the Damned will return. Follow Trepany House on Instagram for updates. We'll see you at the theater.
The production was sponsored by Titmouse, an independent Emmy award-winning animation production company with artist-run studios in Los Angeles, New York City, and Vancouver. Titmouse founders Chris and Shannon Prynoski launched Titmouse in Los Angeles, known for series such as The Venture Bros., Big Mouth, The Legend of Vox Machina, Midnight Gospel, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Metalocalypse.
Presented and produced by Trepany House, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit multi-disciplinary arts organization dedicated to the cultivation of original material and the exploration of innovative forms of artistic expression. Trepany House was in residence at the Steve Allen Theater before it was torn down in 2017. Drama, music, horror, comedy, and theological explorations mingle in their productions. Trepany House is the resident theater company of the Titmouse Warehouse.
