Play depicts horrors of Transylvanian rabbit
Photo courtesy Joel Silverman
Chester the cat and Harold the dog are weary after strange things occur following the arrival of Bunnicula, the new family pet rabbit.
Bunnicula, a play in a series of "family series" performances at 7 Stages Theatre in Little 5 Points, will have a final showing this Sunday, Sept. 24, at 4pm.
The play opens in the Monroe family kitchen, with ashen walls and floors speckled with bursts of crimson. After the younger viewers are briefed on what to expect from the lighting and sound effects, "lightning" and "rain" set the mood as the humans bring home Bunnicula, a black and white rabbit their sons Toby and Pete ( Kai Yost and Jason David) find at a screening of Dracula.
Based on the 1979 novel by Deborah and James Howe, Bunnicula focuses on the Monroe's pets, Chester (Kathleen Link) and Harold (Jeffrey Zwartjes), and their reaction to their new bunny sibling.
When mysterious white vegetables, bearing distinct puncture wounds, are discovered by the Monroes, Chester and Harold surmise that Bunnicula, the newest family addition, may be to blame.
A surprisingly diverse audience, composed of about thirty percent children, filled the modest seating at last Saturday's performace. Delightful ditties sung by both the pets and the humans keep the children in the audience entertained, while the not-so-subtle sexual innendo between the mister and missus ( played by Patrick McColery and Rachel White) and references to the works of Shelley, Poe, and Dickens are sufficient to reassure older viewers that their intellect isn't entirely wasted on this cute and quirky story.
The play has been showing through the month of Sept. as a part of The Family Series by the Synchronicity Performance Group, and this is the last weekend to catch Bunnicula before A Year with Frog and Toad concludes the 2006 series.
