
SHOW PROGRAM
A
Crime
in a MADHOUSE
OCTOBER 2021
MILL NO. 5
LOWELL, MA
weLCOME TO THE SHOW!
A Message from the Artistic Director.
The play you're about to see is one of the original scripts used by a theater called The Theater of the Grand Guignol. This theater occupies a strange little spot in theater history, some fifty years or so when they operated in Paris and produced entertainments that people came from around the world to see. Their shows consisted of short pieces that took the audience from laughter to fear in the space of a few hours. But it was their stories of fear, or horror, of gore and taboo that earned them their reputation. Audience members left the theater, fainted in their seats (especially the men) and vomited in the aisles. They were the slasher flicks of their time, continuing a tradition of gore and violence in live theater (even Shakespeare) that few people are aware of. So naturally they drew my attention.
I have always been fascinated by fear, by what scares me, by what scares others. I don't really know why. My mother used to question why I wrote stories that had gore or death or violence in them and I couldn't really articulate why. I think a lot of us are attracted to that which repels us...the accident by the side of the road, the disturbing stories on the news, the scary stories told around a campfire. Maybe it's like a drug, a rush of adrenalin, a quickening of the heartbeat, a flirting with death that reminds us that we are indeed still alive...still fighting the good fight...still human and capable of feeling. I hope you enjoy fear and dread as much as I do. I suppose you do or you wouldn't be here. So welcome, my partner in the sick and twisted. This one's for you!
Michael López Sáenz
Artistic Director/Producer

Meet the Cast
THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS AND FRIENDS
Jim Lichoulas and Mill No. 5, for providing us with a terrific rehearsal and performance space and for being a fierce advocate for all burgeoning artists and developing small businesses
Ty and Nikki Rutledge, Professional Barbers of Lowell and Moonlight and Mindfulness for helping to spread the word about our show, one small business to another
Brendan Hearn, for donating his time and technical expertise and just being fun to work with