Eldritch horrors. That which the mind of man cannot comprehend. The cult of Cthulu.
If any of those phrases give you a pleasant chill up the spine, then you've probably read H.P. Lovecraft or one of his many literary descendents.
An early 20th-century writer of "weird fiction," Lovecraft captured the imaginations of Stephen King, Clive Barker, Alan Moore and countless others who were inspired by his mix of science fiction, fantasy and horror set in unexplored corners of modern America.
Each October, Open Circle Theater celebrates Lovecraft even though, as artistic director Ron Sandahl admits, the man from Massachusetts was not the world's greatest writer.
"He had a lot of odd mannerisms, was very much an Anglophile in spellings like 'colour' instead of 'color,' and could be overly florid in his writing," pointed out Sandahl. "But he would come up with these great horrifying concepts. The sort of thing that makes you want to keep the lights on after you've finished reading."
Like most Lovecraft fans, Sandahl discovered his hero in various short story collections issued by Arkham House, a publishing company founded by Lovecraft's friends after he died in 1937.
"During his life, most of his stories were only published in magazines," said Sandahl. "But after he died, August Derleth and Donald Wandrei wanted to issue his work in hardcover, so they created Arkham House." Wandrei also founded DAW, one of the leading science fiction paperback houses.
While there's always been a strong contingent of bookish Lovecraft fans, his work has never really been easy to translate for the stage or screen.
"The main story that we're doing this year, "The Colour Out of Space," was changed into a terrible movie called Die, Monster, Die," said Sandahl. "And, another problem for Hollywood is that Lovecraft didn't write about women or have any kind of love story in his work."
Also, Lovecraft's stories are often narrated by men who have been driven insane by what they have seen. "His pieces are often intensely first person, almost all internal dialogue, and that can be hard to put on stage," said Sandahl.
Then there's the whole Cthulu problem - the best-known stories revolve around ancient beings who are many-tentacled space aliens.
"Since they are supposed to be so huge, we might just show a tip of a tentacle," said Sandahl. Because they are coming to a stage show rather than a movie, Sandahl has found the audiences fairly willing to suspend their disbelief at the door. "We don't show everything. Maybe the stage will go black and then the lights will come up and they'll see the last dying wiggle of a severed body."
Now on their fourth year of adapting Lovecraft for the stage, Open Circle Theatre has found multiple ways to work around some of the technical problems of Lovecraft's writing while preserving the more fascinating elements of his horror fiction.
"It's been an evolutionary process for us. Last year, we just changed all his protagonists from male to female, which made the dynamics of the stories really interesting," said Sandahl.
This year, to string together two Lovecraft short stories, "The Thing on the Doorstep" and "The Colour Out of Space," Sandahl wrote a new Lovecraftian story called "Strange Magicks" about a stage magician who has the misfortune to play Arkham, Lovecraft's fictional town of constant horrors.
"I just finished reading 'Carter Beats the Devil' and thought wouldn't it be great if this A-list magician comes through Arkham after the collapse of vaudeville," said Sandahl.
With spooky noises, a fair amount of stage blood and the occasional use of puppets, Open Circle has put themselves on the map as far as Lovecraft fans are concerned. Sean Branney of the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society has called them "the foremost adapters in the world of H.P. Lovecraft."
Closer to home, the Lovecraft shows have become steady hits for the little theater down in the warehouse district between Capitol Hill and Lake Union.
"The word of mouth always builds for these shows and we usually sell out by Halloween weekend," said Sandahl. "We'll see people come to an early show in the run and then come back with their friends."
Part of the popularity of the Halloween weekend is the dress-up factor in the audience. "We encourage people to come in costume," said Sandahl. "And they come in fantastic outfits. As an actor, it's a little weird to come out and see that the audience is better costumed than you are."
The show also draws horror fans of all ages. "We keep the language true to Lovecraft, so it's pretty clean. It's a fun show for young teens and up-if they like horror," said Sandahl. Although he doesn't like to put age limits on his shows, Sandahl does encourage parents of younger children to check out the website or maybe call ahead to discuss the show before bringing children younger than 10. "Some kids can handle it. Some can't."
And if you feel a distinct chill in your seat or notice a noise that is not connected with the show, don't worry too much. It is just Open Circle's resident ghost.
"Odd things do happen in the theater. We've had costumes disappear and then reappear. Actors have told me that they've heard somebody who isn't there speaking during a scene and some members of the audience have complained about a 'cold spot' in the seats," said Sandahl.
But if you dare to venture down to 429 Boren Ave. N., "The Colour Out of Space" opens Oct. 6 and runs through Nov. 11. The tickets are appropriately priced at $13 and all Thursday performances are pay-what-you-will.
More information can be found at www.octheater.com.
Rosemary Jones writes about arts and entertainment for the Capitol Hill Times. She can be reached at editor@capitol times.com.
[[In-content Ad]]
