Mesmerized and Haunted

One would think that, after being exposed to the blood and gore of Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, and the revolting Saw series, I’d be blasé and unaffected by a silly ghost story. One would think that, but they’d be wrong.

The stellar acting, writing, directing, lighting, eerie sound effects and all –around spectacular stage production, not to mention the venue itself (St. James United Church in all its creepy, creaking-floor glory) all came together to give me goose bumps on more than one occasion during this two-hour play.

I can’t say enough about Paul Van Dyck. This Queen’s University graduate has been creating theatre in Montreal for the past eights years and, as the artistic and executive director of Rabbit in a Hat Productions, seems to be on his way to perfecting his craft. Haunted is riveting story-telling at its best; compelling, well-written, laugh-out-loud funny, imaginative, and downright horrifying.

It’s a true story, but the details and characters have certainly been embellished for the sake of our entertainment. It’s a story of a haunting, but the writing is so effortlessly funny and supported by such strong actors, that you become completely immersed in this macabre mystery, relishing every spellbinding twist and turn that leads us to the inevitable resolution.

Van Dyck portrays narrator/spiritualist/enterprising thespian Walter Hubbell with just the right dash of cynical opportunism and snake oil-peddling connivance, while still managing to remain likeable to the audience.

NDG’s very own Alexandria Haber never disappoints as Olive, Esther’s pregnant sister who, out of fear for her unborn child slowly starts to abandon her sibling. I have yet to see Haber in a bad play. From the moment I first saw her in Housekeeping and Homewrecking she has served as my own personal good luck charm; her name on the play bill reassuring me that I’m about to see something good.

Carlo Mestroni as Olive’s husband, Daniel Teed, never delivers a false note, Kyle Gatehouse offers just the right amount of innocence and simmering evil to the character of Bob MacNeal, and Eric Davis, as the morphine-addicted Dr. Carritte, is solid and cuts a tragic figure as the man most intent on helping Esther uncover this mystery.

Which brings us to Esther. Brought to life by Dome graduate, Catherine Berubé, and known to many for her role as Bridget, on CBC’s Sophie, Berubé is the glue that holds this production together. In the hands of a less capable actor, a spooky story of the supernatural would ring hollow and probably elicit more giggles than goose bumps, but in Catherine’s hands the tale is elevated to bone-chilling horror. With every convulsion and frantic spasm in her little body, you buy the story. You may not walk out believing in ghosts, but you’ll be inclined to look behind your shoulder and maybe, just maybe, whisper a “Hail Mary” as you do.

If Montreal’s big theatre companies like the Centaur and the Segal Centre are truly serious about supporting great local talent, they will do well to think about staging this play for a wider audience. In fact, the only thing I could possibly find to harp about with Haunted is that its run is so terribly short, with one final performance appropriately planned for Halloween (Saturday, October 31). This production is not to be missed!