“The Pitchfork Disney" at Augustana College -- October 27 through 30.
Thursday, October 27, through Sunday, October 30
Augustana College's Honkamp Myhre Black Box Theatre, 3750 Seventh Avenue, Rock Island IL
A surreal thriller and pitch-black comedy that will enjoy four performances in the days before Halloween, the student-produced The Pitchfork Disney will run October 27 through 30 in Augustana College's Honkamp Myhre Black Box Theatre, author Philip Ridley's work lauded by London Theatre as a play “for those who completely and wholly enjoy confrontational and edgy theatre. If you’re looking for a chilling play that will haunt you for the next 24 hours in the best possible way, then you’d better pick up some tickets."
With Ridley's 1991 stage piece widely considered a prime example of the 1990s British style of drama called "in-yer-face" theatre, The Pitchfork Disney introduces audiences to Presley and Haley Stray, two adults living alone in the East End of London. Their parents having died years before, the parentless siblings lead a childish fantasy existence, subsisting mostly on chocolate while telling each other stories and discussing their dreams and fears. From their window, however, they see two men, one of whom is apparently sick. Despite their fear of outsiders, Presley brings in the sick man, who introduces himself as Cosmo Disney, and explains that he and his partner are in show business. Cosmo's illness is caused by the fact that his particular talent consists of eating insects and small animals. Meanwhile, Cosmo's partner – the masked, apparently mute figure Pitchfork Cavalier – "entertains" merely by taking his mask off to reveal his hideously deformed face. As Cosmos' true motives are revealed and the siblings become ever more terrified, The Pitchfork Dis a "nightmarish fantasy" boasting "an edgy, alarming potency."
Directing The Pitchfork Disney is Augustana senior Lindsey Edwards, who has appeared onstage in such productions as Noises Off and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and assistant directed the college's recent productions of The Threepenny Opera and Island Song. The Stray siblings are portrayed by Lauren Larson and Haley Trobblee, with Bailey Hacker as Cosmo Disney, Aaron Randolph as Pitchfork Cavalier, and Stephanie Gutierrez-Reyes as the show's understudy. And with Synth Gonzalez serving as production manager and Fynn Greene as stage manager, additional members of Edwards' creative team include: assistant stage managers Andrew Doughty and Sarah Welker; costume designer Abby Tegtmeyer; assistant costume designer Kerah Hipes; lighting designer Bella Perkins; props master Sarah Elrod; technical director Mike Turczynski; master electrician Riley Scranton; and scenic-change artist Janey Locander.
The Pitchfork Disney will be staged in the Honkamp Myhre Black Box Theatre of Augustana College's Brunner Theatre Center October 27 through 30, with performances Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Admission is $10, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)794-7306 and visiting Augustana.edu/tickets.
