The travelling medicine show/circus has traditionally been a source of unease for the strangeness contained within such as in Ray Bradbury’s classic novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes.  This play is a humourously entertaining recreation of that kind of vintage show that is given cohesion with an appropriately spooky overall narrative.

In an unnamed travelling show, the mysterious Doc Nocturn oversees the operation with a strange power that binds his associates to himself.  However, as his lineup runs through its playlist, the Roma woman, T’shaya Manouche senses the end of Nocturn’s arrangement is near, despite what his silent partner, Mephistopheles, promises he can do to maintain things.  However, at the climactic act of the show’s lineup, there is a surprise coming no one expects.

The travelling medicine show, which was often shady by design, was the original base for much of modern popular entertainment, such as the beginning of the Western genre.  This play is a lovingly detailed recreation of that kind of show that gives a taste of what audiences of the 19th century would witnessed, even if this story is firmly anachronistically set in the 20th.  Yet, that eerie timelessness gives the setting an otherworldly feel where the Faustian plot arc makes perfect sense while giving the show a unity that strengthens the whole while providing a superb surprise for the end.  Before that conclusion is a good variety of acts that range from simple monologues to grand mass spectacles of dancing and music that unfortunately go overboard to a degree with a painful excess of strobe-lighting.

The large cast of players effortlessly make that unity of features work with impressive professionalism, even if the dance choreography is a bit simple for a show of this professionalism.  For instance, Cryptaesia, is an excellent anchor for the plot as the show’s villainous master of ceremonies, Doc Nocturn, whose being and livelihood depend on a dark secret bargain he fears is expiring.  Playing against him beautifully is Marina Sheppard as Manouche who rails against her and her fellows’ bondage with insinuations and artfully vague predictions that Marina plays well for the maximum effect.  In addition, she is an accomplished dancer with the best number of the show that easily establishes her thespian dominance in both word and deed.

Meanwhile, Colin Ball is a subtle marvel as Mephistopheles, a sinister background figure who knows what the score is in this show and plays it to the quiet hilt with little indulgences that never let anyone forget who has the power.  Joel McMillan is hilarious as the bird headed Jim Crow who chews up the stage as the show’s comedian, or would if his beak was capable of it.  Meanwhile Steve Wallace has some marvelous skill with stage magic and especially glass ball juggling that displays the skills of a master combined with the vital skill to work the audience.  Speaking of working the audience, Jeff Sheppard handles that task with equal skill as a preacher whose piety is shamelessly buried under a mound of chicanery of the supposedly miraculous.  All the while, Rachel H. makes a oddly convincing cross dress act as Mr. Jacobs while Jezzie Rogers is a strange observer of these affairs as Death, who takes a careful neutrality that is oddly unsettling in and of itself.

The stagecraft for the simplicity of the production gets top marks for its budget and ambition.  For instance, the placement of sideshow booths around the bar area is an inspired choice to maintain the show’s atmosphere during the frequent breaks, much like a taste of a carnival’s midway. Even the expensive program booklets, prompted by the troupe’s unexpectedly onerous printing expense, make the best of that development by creating a recreation of the grasping economics of such a show for its time, with all the angles thoroughly covered.  Furthermore, the troupe has a special sense of misdirection and visual surprise as the oddest most elaborate things appear in the performances that you will never expect.  However, in the attempt to create a suitably strange show for the dance number, the producers apparently fell painfully into the temptation of overusing strobe-lighting and it was personally unbearable with an incessant flickering that bothered me even when I closed my eyes.  However, the costuming is superb with an ornate exoticness that is a joy to behold; the fashion show sequence is wholly justified to show it off.

Finally, the use of the Lavish nightclub seems a definite improvement for the show, providing a larger play space and especially no neighbouring dance club with its monotonous beat to ruin the atmosphere.  However, the place loses points for the near total lack of seats for the audience, leaving the floor or standing for the entirety of the show which is an unfortunate distraction.

Taken all together with even the flaws, you will find a wealth of superb late night entertainment in this dark venue where variety is the real overall quality.