The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

by John Moran
directed by Bob McGrath
scenic design by Laurie Olinder and Fred Tietz
films by Anthony Chase
costume design by Catherine Zuber
lighting design by Howard Thies
sound design by Christopher Walker

Closed March 22, 1997
At the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a world premiere, multimedia theatre piece with music, loosely based on the 1920 German Expressionist film of the same name. Bob McGrath and John Moran have created a hybrid of the film and the Parisian drama known as the Théâtre du Grand Guignol, the 19th-century theatrical tradition out of which the film was born. Specializing in terror, blood and guts, and sexual innuendo, The Grand Guignol was the dirty little secret of Paris, a place where pimps and petty thieves shared benches with the crowned heads of Europe, all seeking terror and titillation. Moran uses a unique "techno-opera" stage technique that he's perfected with McGrath: the music, sound, and sound effects are pre-recorded, and the actors on stage lip-synch to their own recorded voices. All of this is overlaid with film, slides and set pieces. The effect is a dream-like hypnotic ride that is both funny and horrific. The lights, color, sound, and costumes create something like the excitement of an amusement park -- except it's like nothing you've ever seen before!

After each performance of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, the audience was invited to attend a screening of the silent film in the lobby, with live piano accompaniment by Martin Marks.

Cast

Dr. Caligari

. . . Alvin Epstein

Wirthrol

. . . Jeremy Geidt

Anastasia

. . . Kwana Martinez

Bruto

. . . Jack Willis

The Dreamer

. . . Benjamin Evett

The Dreamer double

. . . Kevin Bergen

Mr. Twiddle (The Banker)

. . . Scott Ripley

Mr. Twiddle's young assistant

. . . Steve Harper

The Girl (Penny Price)

. . . Phoebe Jonas

The Girl Double

. . . Cheryl Kenan

Mrs. Pierson

. . . Karen MacDonald

Barnaby (Grave Robber #1)

. . . Charles Levin

Scratch (Grave Robber #2)

. . . Remo Airaldi

Guignol members

. . . Jada Galan

. . . Jay Boyer