By Marilyn Lester***Perfectly timed for the Halloween Season, the vaudeville-cum Victorianesque Dreadful Episodes at 59E59 Theaters is a fiesta of madcap macabre, a delicious mashup of the weird and fanciful, mining the dark but oh-so-clever world of the late writer and artist, Edward Gorey. You 
might remember his work as the animated intro to the PBS series, “Masterpiece Mystery.” Delightfully brought to real life by the Washington, DC-based company, Happenstance Theater, visual vignettes with musical accompaniment reveal witty Victorian-era scenes of precocious children, ill-fated romance and other human events where danger might lie around unsuspected corners. Who knew a severed head could be so much fun?
Under the co-direction of Happenstance founders, Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell (who also perform), company members Stephanie Baird, Gwen Grastorf, Sarah Olmsted Thomas and Jay Owen perfectly execute the production’s physical comedy, possibly setting records for remarkably speedy costume changes and the split-second timed actions upon which most of the vignettes depend. It’s all quite remarkable. There’s an economy of dialog, just enough to enhance the sight 
gags, and what there is is rendered in English accents. Augmenting the production is music scoring, as in silent films. The original compositions were devised by Karen Hansen. Other music in or as segment pieces include Tom Waits’ “A Little Drop of Poison” and “Dancing The Devil Away” (Otto Harbach, Bert Kalmar). Music director-arranger Stephanie Baird plays on two keyboards flanking the stage, one a small vaudeville-style upright and the other a petite organ disguised as a children’s piano. Jaster joins on musical saw for two numbers.
The curtain speech by Jaster immediately reveals him as an expressive actor, a comic type cut from the cloth of Stan Laurel, including an elastic face capable of transmitting volumes in one eyebrow 
twitch. The cast at large features mime mastery in their performing tool kits, complete with a repertoire of peerless facial expressions. These talents especially shone in Jaster in the skit, “The Erstwhile Siblings,” in which two orphaned sisters beseech their severe uncle for remedies to their boredom. The twist ending is hilarious.
Dreadful Episodes is designed with a handful of titled scenes that are interspersed with short, concise and clever entr’acte pieces. Stock characters regularly appear in these vignettes, including a much put-upon maid. Early on in the show, the bar for hilarity is set high with a stage-length pass-by in which a tipsy actress, with a mischievous look on her face, utters but one word: “Macbeth” before racing off. For those who know theater lore, this brief scene is priceless.
In the long-form scene, “The Spilsby Suitor,” a tale of ill-fated romance by the sea (and a cliff), relates the dreadful episode of two more sisters and a single suitor. 
There’s also an an ersatz opera “La Triviata” and a segment titled “Who Killed Cock Robin Quartet” (based on a traditional English folk tune) a take on the macabre ritual of the Victorian era’s inclination to transform death into a form of entertainment or delight. The narrative within this quartet revolves around the death of Cock Robin, who is killed by an arrow shot by Sparrow; his elaborate funeral is then orchestrated by various birds. But perhaps the high point of Dreadful Episodes is the croquet game gone wrong. What begins as a genteel Victorian pastime soon degenerates into utter carnage. Choreographed in slow motion, the precision and the split-second timing is breathtaking—the artistry of the physical comedy on display here almost otherworldly. And the scene is truly one of the most laugh-out-loud of the show.
Happenstance Theater is a collaborative, ensemble company, with its members taking on backstage as well as onstage roles. Mandell designed the exquisite costumes, brilliantly constructed to allow lightning-fast quick change. Mandell and Jaster handle props. Lighting design for this production was created by Kris Thompson and Tori Martin,
Dreadful Episodes runs through Sunday, November 2 at 59E59 Theaters. Run time is 75 minutes without intermission. For tickets, click here.
Photos by Leah Huete
