How an audience member was kept on the toes viewing pilgrims of the night

On Friday, April 29th, I attended the showing of Pilgrims of the Night. This show was a vibrant mixture of emotions. At points it was refreshingly hilarious and at other points it was sobering and poignant. With multiple stories, within a story, within a story, it kept the audience on their toes, waiting to see where the plot would take them.

The story starts with an omniscient character, Poor Tom (played by Frank Iaquinta), who knew all the characters’ backgrounds and dispositions. And, while he introduced them to us, they heard him talking, giving the scene and audience a surrealistic atmosphere. Samuel Sundown (played by Dana Reid) lay on a bench, apparently waiting for the next ferry to take him across the river. Then came Lily Black (played by Emily Borges), a lone author. After came Zoe (played by Sarah Gallagher) and her circus-performing partner, Professor Hubert (played by Anthony Gentossio). After emerged shady businessman Ray T. Fox (played by Zach Boulay). Viva (played by Rebecca Phalen) came last, Poor Tom’s assistant in the ferry business. Stuck at this ferry station until morning and until a thrashing storm lets up, they decide to unravel entertaining stories, some true, some fabricated, that in turn unravel the characters themselves. These stories were played out by many supporting roles. There are too many components to summarize, but all were significantly ardent. Some included zombies and a Martian, while others included a more realistic plotline with a racy hostess and her affair. Nevertheless, each forced audience members to enter the many hurt, scared, and angry personalities of the seven main characters. The play ends the next morning, the angry rain has ceased, friendships have formed, and Samuel Sundown, am old man with lung problems, has died peacefully.

The many actors involved in this production performed well and supplemented their colleagues’ performances in doing so. Even the briefest of roles were fundamental in developing the mood. For instance, Danni Vitorino plays a blind Calypso singer as well as an escaped psych ward’s evil medical experimenting patient. Despite being one of the briefer roles, he arguably had the best performance of all. It was energetic, sidesplitting, and scary all at once. While many characters burst with a strong personality, they were accompanied by those characters with laid-back temperaments, such as Samuel Sundown and Viva. Overall, without the monumental efforts of the actors, this play would have suffered greatly.

The setting was phenomenal. The set had two levels and was fitting for the many stories being portrayed. The actors moved around props during scenes themselves, yet it was still unnoticeable. The background was painted with the shadows of trees making it uncannily realistic. At one point in the show, they projected a moving image onto the wooden set. I didn’t even know the theatre owned such technology. It was dreamlike. They used tables, chairs, a fake dingy, and a stuffed animal as props, which was good because the props were minimal, but also minimally distracting. Finally, the dress of the characters fit their personalities perfectly. The Martian was painted completely silver. Professor Hubert had a cape fitting the part of a flamboyant performer.

The sound effects included thunder, music, and an announcer. They had a strobe light to mimic lightning and the flash of a camera. These also appropriately accompanied the scene. Although, the flash was certainly distracting and somewhat unnecessary, that is the only thing that did not fit in perfectly.

Overall, out of the plays I attended this semester, this one was the most engaging and entertaining. The characters, props, scenery, and dress all synchronized to produce a perfectly vivacious play.