On the heels of their acclaimed remountings of The Songs of Robert and Ruth, The Magnetic Theatre is concluding their festival of plays by John Crutchfield with the world premiere of his play The Labyrinth, which forms a trilogy with these other two plays.
“This play will surprise a lot of fans of John’s work,” director Steven Samuels said, “it’s very funny, dark and, in many ways, twisted.”
Billed as “a diabolical comedy,” The Labyrinth centers around the story of a formerly promising young lawyer, now in an insane asylum, who goes wandering through the underworld in search of his best friend. The Labyrinth abandons the southern Appalachian setting and characters of The Songs of Robert and Ruth for everything from a mental hospital to a graveyard, a desert, a boat on the River Styx, a television studio, and more, incorporating a gravedigger, a coal miner, businesspeople, psychiatrists, an aging jam band, a topologist of knots, Sirens, doctors, Stone People, and even Atticus Finch, from To Kill a Mockingbird. Somewhat like a westernized Haruki Murakami tale, this unique, riveting, and improbably funny play is a psychedelic and irresistible conclusion to this successful run of plays.
After the triumph of When Jekyll Met Hyde, and with more world premiere plays on the way, The Magnetic Theatre in The Magnetic Field–Asheville’s newest professional stage company–is fast making a reputation for producing the most exciting, original theatre in the region.
The Labyrinth will open on Friday, April 15th (with previews April 8-9, 14). Performances continue April 15-16, 21-23 and 28-30 at 7:30, with 10:00 p.m. late shows on Friday and Saturday. Tickets $12/14 (Low Price Previews $8). For reservations call 828-668-2154, visit www.themagneticfield.com, or stop by The Magnetic Field at 372 Depot Street, Asheville, NC 28801.
. . .“This play will surprise a lot of fans of John’s work,” director Steven Samuels said, “it’s very funny, dark and, in many ways, twisted.” . . .
I thought all of Crutchfield's work was already funny, dark and twisted.
After the triumph of When Jekyll Met Hyde, and with more world premiere plays on the way, The Magnetic Theatre in The Magnetic Field–Asheville's newest professional stage company–is fast making a reputation for producing the most exciting, original theatre in the region.
Don't you love press release hype!