The Cellar Door: An Evening of Horror Theatre (2002)

Perhaps our most unusual and controversial production, we'd like to think The Cellar Door was the sleeper hit of 2002.  Here, we introduced Los Angeles to the fact that we're...well, we're sometimes a little off.  Just a little weird, we'll admit it.  And we admitted it rather publically the fall with this fun, over-the-top horror show the fall after we closed Coming Out Clean.  The Stella Adler Theatre had a sudden opening in their schedule and they offered us the slot so that we could remount the show.  But the set was torn about and the actors scattered about different projects, so we chose another route instead.   

Based on a series that was mounted at Middlebury College called Shadowbox which was an evening of original one-act plays in the horror genre (not often explored in theatre).  Co-Founder Andy Mitton had three plays leftover from that series that he still liked and wrote a new one for the new incarnation, Either Side of Sleep.  The four one-acts were quickly mounted in about four weeks time and tossed up on the main stage at the Stella Adler before we could really absorb what was happening.   

Power Failure, directed by Clark Freeman and starring JJ Gleason and Michelle Marie White (fresh off performances in Coming Out Clean), opened the night with a story of two strangers who meet in a blackout and become involved in a dangerous cat and mouse game lit only by flashes from a Polaroid camera. 

Either Side of Sleep was directed by Mariah Sussman and starred Clark Freeman, Michelle Marie White, Abby Feldman, and Andy Mitton and told of a violent encounter between a well-to-do Midwestern couple and their guests:  a young and innocent singer/songwriter couple auditioning for what they think is a show.  Actually, it's something a lot worse.  So much worse that it tended to leave audiences in a shocked silence headed into intermission. 

What They Cast Down opened Act II with the story of a ferris wheel operator and a teenaged girl who'd do anything for a ride.  It sounds like the plot of a late night movie you weren't supposed to be watching when you were young, but it's not like that.  Really.  A play that premiered previously at the Boston Theatre Marathon, it was directed by Andy Mitton and starred JJ Gleason and Mariah Sussman.

The Undoing of Good Mr. Sneed was first performed at Middlebury College where it was directed by Andy Mitton and starred Clark Freeman.  They both reprised their duties for this production, and added to the cast Abby Feldman and Coby Ryan McLaughlin.  The story of a fatal misunderstanding between murder and adultery in the sweltering heat of Savannah, Mr. Sneed closed out the evening with a bang...and, of course, a body liquified in a suitcase.

By this time, the four soon-to-be Sight Unseen founders were in the planning stages of solidifying their partnership and seeking non-profit status as a company who would produce two plays a year, plus a short film and other special performances such as improv shows.  We sat at a round table in Santa Monica, wrote our mission statement, and devised the name Sight Unseen (and yes, we know there's a play of the same name but there's no connection) which was one of the names considered for what became The Cellar Door.

..

Return to Past Productions