Welcome to the Slaughterhouse!
October 2007

BY: MJ PENDLETON

Guerilla Theatre's "Welcome to the Slaughterhouse" is the perfect Halloween production for pure entertainment, good acting and
Was In Love With A Werewolf" by Chris Bowen, which alternate scenes. Though it sounds confusing, master of ceremonies, Geoff
Goss (who "really isn't in the show"), explained the structure to the audience before the performance and then killed a few people.
The absurdity of this initial gratuitous violence elicited slightly nervous laughter, and the audience seemed to shrink back from the
stage, particularly those on the front row.

The intertwined plots appear to be relatively simple. In "I Was In Love With A Werewolf," a teenage couple falls into a pit after a
disturbance during an outdoor keg party. A werewolf has apparently bitten one of them. Scene One of "People Who Hunt People Who
Are Partially Pigs" introduces another of the partygoers tied up at the house of a crazy man. The plays are cleverly linked: The girl who
is tied up is the sister of the boy in the pit, the pit is a pig pit, and there are references in both plays to Juicy Fruit gum and a root in the
pit. The play is scary and funny with unmotivated violence, sex, evil and insanity—not to mention invisible pig people and werewolves
who squeal and growl offstage.

The actors are great, and their timing, which is essential for both comedy and horror, is absolutely perfect. Kevin Wilson, who plays
Eli, one of the pig hunters, gave an impressive performance. He seemed creepy without being over-the-top scary and weird, but not
totally insane. Mac (Jeff Boardman) and Harris (Shane Bates) were actually too crazy to identify with as characters, though Mac's
interaction with Kat (Catherine Seely) humanized him a bit.

In "Werewolf" the two characters Lou (Erin Capps) and Ken (Jacob Jackson) are fairly stereotypical teenagers, "sort of" in love, which
is reflective of the standard horror genre.

Capps was the perfect idealistic virgin, and Jackson smoothly portrayed the manipulative boyfriend. Technical director Jacki Booth
brilliantly designed and operated the essential lighting, sounds and gory effects.

This is probably where the review should end. The problem is that certain elements of both stories seem to beg interpretation: Are
they simply tales of horror, or are they symbolic, metaphoric and even allegorical? Are the werewolves and people who are partially
pigs representative of man's dualistic nature like the mythological centaurs and minotaurs?

Animal-human hybrids symbolize the corporeal-spiritual nature of humanity. Instead of a horse's body or a steer's head, there is a
more sinister association with wolves and pigs, which are both representative of evil. Upon reflection the stories are a metaphoric
confusion of appearance and reality. A distinct thread of cynicism unravels but is never resolved. Because we are all liars and
accountable for our duplicity, there is no escape from the pig pit because "nothing gets out alive." Depressing thought.

The Guerilla Theatre production is very entertaining as simply comic horror, and it is interesting to see what Wilmington's local
playwrights are producing. The Soapbox basement is the ideal setting for this gruesome tale.
Continuing November 1st-3rd, 8pm; $10.