Reviews

Feathers and Teeth

The Goodman delivers a world premiere with plenty of bloody bite.

Christina Hall and Olivia Cygan in Charise Castro Smith's Feathers and Teeth, directed by Henry Godinez, at the Goodman Theatre.
Christina Hall and Olivia Cygan in Charise Castro Smith's Feathers and Teeth, directed by Henry Godinez, at the Goodman Theatre.
(© Liz Lauren)

In Charise Castro Smith's genre-busting, Halloween-appropriate creature-feature Feathers and Teeth, it's tough to tell who the real monster is. Every time you think you've figured out where the evil truly lies, Smith throws another bloody corkscrew into the plot.

The 1970s-themed, horror-comedy mash-up has been in development at the Goodman for several years, starting as a reading in 2013 and continuing as part of last year's New Stages Festival. With this month's world premiere, directed by Henry Godinez (who has been with the show since its inception), Smith proves herself to be a cheeky, subversive playwright with a keen ear for menace and humor.

Feathers and Teeth is three things: a send-up of classic family sitcoms such as The Partridge Family and The Brady Bunch (the former gets a sonic shout-out in the opening moments), an innovative addition to the horror genre, and a disturbing metaphorical plunge into the scary mind of a teenager who may or may not be on her way to becoming a psychopath.

No sooner are we introduced to the preternaturally perky mom Carol (Christina Hall) than her gleaming cheeriness has mutated into something that's at best deeply icky and at worst barbarously sinister.

Carol is actually a stepmom-to-be, a nurse who has moved in with Arthur (Eric Slater) following the death of his wife, Ellie (Ali Burch, heard only on a tape recorder and seen almost entirely in shadow). Ellie's beloved daughter Christine (Olivia Cygan) is definitely not OK with the addition of Carol to the household. She's more welcoming to the fanged, feathery animal her father runs over in the driveway. If you think you've seen the end of the creature after it's been buried out back in a stew pot, you are a newbie to the horror genre.

Godinez's cast is sharp, instilling the 90-minute show with an energy as high-octane and constant as a manic squirrel colony trapped in a crawlspace (and yes, there's a killer crawlspace scene in Feathers and Teeth.) Hall is an effervescent minx as she prances through her housework, stopping only when it's time for family dinner or for an enthusiastically athletic sex-up against the fridge. Slater is also in fine form as a man wholly clueless about how to comfort his grieving daughter, but arrogantly determined to be the king of his household nonetheless.

As Christine, Cygan is a whirlwind filled with swirling knives, a child capable of creating adult-size havoc. As the next-door-nerd Hugo, Jordan Brodess provides comic relief and one of the most shockingly sad scenes in the show.

The problem with the production lies with the use of a "Foley artist" (Carolyn Ann Hoerdemann) perched above the stage providing sound effects for the never-seen beasts whose voracious appetites are the source of some Grand Guignol-level bloodshed. In addition to providing a cacophony of snarls, hisses, and grunts, Hoerdemann serves as a DJ, dropping vinyl classics (Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" gets a workout) throughout the show.

While the music and the monster sounds are effective, the fact that you can see Hoerdemann generating them is a distraction. In getting her gyrating, hair-flipping groove on every time the needle drops, Hoerdemann makes the cast below compete with her one-woman show. But the bigger problem lies in the very existence of that sound booth. Every time the lights hit Hoerdemann and her turntable, the audience is reminded that the monsters are pretend, as is everything else onstage. That constant reminder robs the story of authenticity. When everything is smoke and mirrors and stage tricks, it's easy to stop caring.

That said, Feathers and Teeth is a lot of fun, especially if you came of age in the era of rainbow-appliqued bell bottoms and avocado-colored kitchen appliances. Godinez orchestrates a fine balance of humor and darkness. The over-the-top bloodshed is hilarious…until Smith hits you with the gruesome death of an innocent. Then, you're whiplashed back into the realization that growing up – for all its sitcom-worthy absurdities – can also be genuinely horrifying.

Set designer Kevin Depinet's Brady Bunch home interior is period perfect down to the linoleum and the avocado appliances. Costume designer Christine Pascual is also on point, outfitting Carol in one of those Diane von Furstenberg-style wrap dresses that were ubiquitous in the 1970s, and giving Arthur a leisure suit that's museum-quality.

One of the intriguing questions Smith asks of the audience is whether Christine is a woman shattered by grief and in desperate need of counseling, or whether she is a psychopath in desperate need of long-term hospitalization. To her credit, Smith keeps the audience guessing until the final 20 seconds of the show, and even then, the matter's not entirely settled.

Those final moments draw on everything from Rosemary's Baby to Alien to The Fly in their monstrous implication. It's final scene might give you nightmares. And really, that's what one wants from a good horror story.

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Feathers and Teeth

Closed: October 18, 2015