If you’re a fan of all things vintage and thriller suspense, “Vintage Hitchcock” is the show for you.
“Vintage Hitchcock” is a show written by Joe Landry and directed by Karen Potter. The show featured senior theater major Kristian Thomas; junior theater majors Tanner Diggs, Lane Norris, Douglas Fournier, Lori Ann Coughlin; and sophomore theater majors Bethany Bordelon and Ethan Brandt.
One key factor about this show is that its audio comes through the radio. The set was located in parking lot ‘A’ in front of the Schollmaier building. The audience provided their own seating and audio with their car.
I could hear people in the cars parked around me socializing to the vintage music playing before the start of the show. Attendees had the option to bring their own snacks and asked to leave their car lights off during the show.
I also really liked that the audience was asked to “applaud” by honking their car horns repeatedly and only when a lighted sign would flash the word “applause.” It was a fun replacement and I feel like it brought me closer with the audience.
The car seating made sense for this radio play, as it promoted the set of the radio station “WBFR.” Each actor had their own audio booth so that their voices carried through to the radio in the car.
Each actor would stand and turn on their “On air” sign, which was on the box above them, to indicate who was speaking each time. They would end their speaking segments with a hefty click.
The show content itself explored themes of mystery and suspense and was cut into two different stories. The first story focused on the mysterious killings of “The Avenger,” The Bunty family, and one Mr. Sleuth.
Mrs. Bunty encounters Mr. Sleuth as an awkward, narrow-minded man who is looking for a quiet place to stay. As the story continues, Mrs. Bunty’s growing suspicions of Mr. Sleuth become the overarching plot of the story.
The next story featured in the show narrates a story between two gangsters, one with a family that owns a theater, the man, his wife, and the wife’s little sister, and one who owns the supermarket next door.
The plot is much thicker in this segment, as the town’s people play a huge role in the beginning and the overall outcome of the story. The show continues to develop and cultivate that idea that no one is exactly who they say they are at first.
The ending of each story in the play are tragic and unpredictable, and following the characters was an experience that had me at the edge of my seat, ready to watch for who the “imposter” might be.
Even though the actors were each confined to their respective boxes, the way the actors conveyed such thick emotion and their calculated wording definitely made for a night to remember.
If you enjoy watching shows like “Ratched” on Netflix or listening to podcasts like “Welcome to Nightvale” then this show definitely hits the mark and takes you back to a time when radio shows were the main source of entertainment and the content is just as thrilling and bizarre.
The overall message I got from the show was that not everything is what it seems, and that you can’t trust everyone based on what they tell you and what you hear.
Overall, I would largely recommend watching the show, but it only had three performances from Oct. 9-11. So instead, I’ll recommend checking out Theater Wesleyan’s upcoming production, “Eurydice” which opens on Oct. 23-25.
