Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Tastefully (literally) beckoning Halloween: AT THE ILLUSIONIST’S TABLE & KILLING AN EVENING WITH EDGAR ALLAN POE

• By drediman
• October 17, 2018
• No Comments

Selecting a tasteful live entertainment to usher in Halloween can be a tricky proposition. Where does one start? On the surface, you’ll simply be faced with a barrage of generic, shock-oriented haunted houses, many of which are tacky. Aside from the immensely popular, long-running, Macbeth-inspired immersive theater hit Sleep No More, you’ll probably be hard pressed to come of with alternative options. Luckily, New York currently has two productions, both immersive and soaked in rich atmosphere, to choose from. As a bonus, I guarantee that you won’t be splattered in fake blood at the conclusion of either experience.

Scott Silver in “At the Illusionist’s Table” at the McKittrick Hotel.

After a selling out its initial engagement last year at the McKittrick Hotel, Scottish illusionist Scott Silver’s one man show At the Illusionist’s Table (RECOMMENDED) is back at the hip Chelsea immersive entertainment complex – also the home of Sleep No More – for an encore run this fall. The intimate, candlelit evening, which includes a delicious and sumptuous three-course meal (plus some whiskey), simply seeks to intoxicate, and it succeeds. Mr. Silver is a handsome, mysterious master of ceremonies who thrives on tantalizing his guests with his suggestive storytelling and array of illusions, most of them of the mentalist variety. Taken on their own, the “tricks” performed aren’t especially mind-blowing, particularly if you’ve been exposed to such sleight of hand before. However, taken as a whole, The Illusionist’s Table seduces by demanding each of your sense’s full attention. And at the hands of the dashing Mr. Silver, it’s not very hard to succumb. In that heightened, very present and alive state, anything is possible.

The living room of the Merchant’s House Museum, where John Kevin Jones is performing “Killing an Evening with Edgar Allan Poe”, courtesy of Summoners Ensemble Theatre.

Over at the stunningly preserved Merchant’s House Museum in NoHo, John Kevin Jones is premiering his new solo show Killing an Evening with Edgar Allan Poe (RECOMMENDED). Performed in the historic house’s gorgeous, dimly-lit living room, the evening is an immersive, even personal experience, much like the aforementioned At the Illusionist’s Table (alas, sans dinner). Mounted in conjunction with Summoners Ensemble Theatre and unobtrusively staged by Dr. Rhonda Dodd, Killing an Evening with Edgar Allan Poe is essentially a dramatic reading of three of Poe’s classic macabre literary pieces – “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Cask of Amontillado”, and “The Raven”. Mr. Jones, who also recites Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol at the Merchant’s House during the holiday season, is clearly an enthusiastic fan of Poe’s work. His performance is at once gregariou and nuanced, fully and necessarily appreciating the pitch black underpinnings of Poe’s disturbed psyche.

AT THE ILLUSIONIST’S TABLE
Off-Broadway, Performance
The McKittrick Hotel
Approximately 2 hours (including breaks for dinner courses)
Through December 30

KILLING AN EVENING WITH EDGAR ALLAN POE
Off-Broadway, Performance
Summoners Ensemble Theatre, in conjunction with the Merchant’s House Museum
50 minutes (without an intermission)
Through October 31