With a set that features bloody mannequins chained to walls and a bathtub full of bloody body parts and severed heads, the Hippodrome State Theatre’s Halloween play isn’t scared of getting a little messy this year.
The Florida premiere of “Slasher” opens Friday night at the Hippodrome for $18 a ticket or $15 for students. It gives its viewers a horrifying and fun behind-the-scenes look at the production of horror films.
The play centers on Texan girl Sheena McKinney, played by Marissa Toogood, a Hippodrome company actress. McKinney is cast as the “Last girl” in a B-style horror movie called “Blood Bath,” directed by a D-list Hollywood director. It might have been her big break into show business if her crazy, drugged-up, activist mother didn’t show up to try to stop the filming by any means necessary.
You never know what’s going to happen, especially with the Halloween shows, Toogood said. The director, Lauren Caldwell, didn’t impose too much on the actors and let them create their own character portrayal.
“You can’t help but love it,” Toogood said.
Gainesville loves Halloween, Caldwell said, and the Hippodrome has made a commitment to producing a Halloween-themed play every year for the past decade.
Almost 95 percent of the Halloween plays that the theater puts on are fun or spoofs. “Slasher” spoofs horror movies by using every campy horror trope, Caldwell said, complete with punchy one-liners, light shows and special effects that fling blood like fruit at a Gallagher show.
Despite the light-hearted feel, the play is about the lengths people have to go to when in dire financial need or when they need a second chance, she said. Between the director, who desperately needs one last break, and a woman looking for revenge, it’s not certain who’s going to win.
There are also more subtle references to popular horror movies and punch lines in this play than in popular spoof-horror movies like “Cabin in the Woods” or “Scream,” Caldwell said.
“You won’t scream,” she said. “But you’ll die laughing.”
For more information about the play or to buy tickets, go to thehipp.org, or call the box office at 352-375-4477.
[A version of this story ran on page 10 on 10/16/2014]
“Slasher,” a behind-the-scenes spoof of the production of horror films, premieres at the Hippodrome State Theatre on Friday night. Tickets are $15 for students.
