Lovecraft on Stage

Experiments in exporting HP Lovecraft's cosmic horror and sense of the weird to other forms have only grown bolder with time. The annual HP Lovecraft Film Festival is perhaps the best proof of this, along with plushie Cthulhus, and musicians like The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, putting sound to the written word. Now, lucky Seattle residents are getting an ambitious treat: several Lovecraft stories performed live on stage. "The Picture in the House," "The Cats of Ulthar," "Nyarlathotep," and "The Dreams in the Witch House" are all slated to be acted out at the Rendezvous Jewel Box Theater from October 12th-November 15th, 2007.

Such performances are on par with the blasphemous attempt a couple years ago to produce the musical man was never meant to perform. This (fake, but humorous) stage show, "A Shoggoth on the Roof," resulted in a documentary from the good folks at the HP Lovecraft Historical Society. Hopefully, those of us unable to make the Seattle showings might see a script of this fall performance in the future, or even an online video with the creators' permission. Yes, Washington state readers, this is a general call to action. Lovecraft in theater is still relatively uncharted waters. Not surprisingly, for that reason, it also provides some of the best territory for new twists.

To date, very few plays based on Lovecraft's works have surfaced. Though the same Seattle Theater previously enacted live action performances of smaller tales in earlier years, this is their first year attempting a major story. The only other play that comes to mind was semi-factual and based on HPL's life, using information gathered from his letters, fiction, Joshi's H.P. Lovecraft: A Life, and Sonia Greene's recollections. This production, "Night Gaunts," saw limited showings a couple years ago, and fortunately has a full script available for casual perusing online. An interesting and recommended read.

-Grim Blogger