REVIEW – "Feathers and Teeth," Artists Repertory Theatre

Horror and comedy are two substantially different genres on entirely different ends of entirely different spectrums; one seeks to scare, and the other attempts to raise a laugh. And for this reason, many people assume that neither can coincide with one another. But a contrast in genre objectives doesn’t inherently mean a contrast in genre functionalities and, if executed masterfully, can provide for a thrilling experience unlike any other. Comedy horror is a genre that can perfectly balance out the two extremes and find a happy middle. Take that, add an array of technical effects and 70’s classic rock, and you have Feathers and Teeth.

Feathers and Teeth is a campy, comedy horror written by Charise Castro Smith, which follows a small family in a late 70s, midwestern factory town. The angsty 13-year-old Chris (played by Agatha Day Olson) attempts to adapt to life without her mother, while her widowed father, Arthur (Darius Pierce), tries his hand at another relationship with his deceased wife’s previous nurse, Carol (Sara Hennessey). But all seems to go awry, as Arthur comes home one night having run over an unidentifiable creature with “feathers and teeth”. And now Chris is on a mission to save her family, in more ways than one, with the help of her German neighbor, Hugo Schmidt (Dámaso J. Rodríguez). And from this point on, the story falls into a spiral down into the pits of madness.

On a technical level, the play is golden. It incorporates a variety of technical layers, from remote controlled magnets to pools of fake blood. And this leads to the best example of the subtleties it takes on: Excluding several crawlspace stages, the play takes place in all one room. So naturally, you have to get creative. They know how to make the most out of single props without repetition or a break in flow or consistency. It may be the play’s greatest aspect.

Of course, technical theater is only one small part of the bigger picture and, sadly, the play is not without its fair share of issues. The story starts off rocky, the first two scenes being dedicated to barfing exposition and backstory as quickly as possible. And it’s moments like this that stand out me, in comparison to the great technical subtleties. It’s the small number of moments of blunt delivery or deadpan execution that undermine the rest of the play’s often times genius ideas and processes. Both horror and comedy each require massive precision, and their fusion genre is no exception.

The main issue I had with the play that could easily sum up most, if not all, of its subsequent flaws was the script (Note: I had read the script twice from cover to cover before attending the play). It was clearly written to go for a campy vibe, much like an old b-movie (bad movie) from the play’s setting, but I had a big problem with this. The issue I have with it is the fact that camp isn’t something a movie can simply replicate. And for those who are unaware of the idea of camp, think back to an old movie from the 80s you might have seen on television once. You put it on, and you know it’s bad but you can’t stop laughing. This is a prime example of camp.

Camp is when something tries to take itself seriously, but fails so horrendously it enters a stage where it’s so goofy you can’t help but fall for its charm. This is a quality Feathers and Teeth tries to accomplish, but falls flat on its face. Camp is something that is born by complete accident; it’s not something someone can simply recreate. And so when it tries to replicate a campy feel, it comes off more unnatural than campy. And this not only negatively affects the script, but also the acting. It makes the acting seem slightly stiff and lifeless at times, which can turn some otherwise very emotional scenes into a field of mud that the audience has to trudge through. Although this would require some legal action, I would suggest some slight script tweaks or something to give the actors more liberties to play around with their roles and deliveries.

And speaking of the actors, I would like to address their performances briefly. For me, the best actor was clearly Darius Pierce’s Arthur; his mannerisms and voice patterns did not capture what I imagined, but went beyond that and exceeded my expectations with a unique take on the character that took me rather off guard. Sara Hennessey played the role of Carol exactly the way the script depicted her, and with the previously mentioned issues I feel this lead her performance into a rather flat state. I thought Dámaso J. Rodríguez’s performance as Hugo ran on a similar vein as well, although still adding enough of his own personality to keep the character from running too dry. And now we meet with my other big issue with the play: Chris.

This issue is less about Agatha Day Olson’s performance, and more of Chris’s character in general. To put it simply, Chris, in my opinion, needed to be older. Chris’s character, to me, was simply too unrelatable as a 13-year-old. She is meant to be going through a lot of emotional distress and mental instability, unwilling to let her mother go to a point of obsession, and I believe if Chris was slightly older, maybe 16 or 17, it would have allowed for the writing and humor to be slightly more mature, complementing the themes more, while still playing off of the play’s general strengths.

And at this point, I feel like I need to give Feathers and Teeth a little slack; I enjoyed the play immensely, despite my many criticisms. Like I mentioned before, the subtleties of many of the elements were nearly perfect and drive the play forward, the ending being a perfect example. The twist ending played off of exactly what made the play so enjoyable for me, and leaves it ambiguously open to interpretation, raising more questions than answering, like any good horror should.

Overall, I would say Feathers and Teeth, although not flawless, delivers a good time whether you can accept its imperfections or not. It manages to maintain a strong atmosphere while still delivering a few good laughs, and concludes on a strong twist that will leave most satisfied. I would not necessarily recommend it to bigger fans of the comedy horror genre but possibly to newcomers of the genre, or to anybody that just wants to watch a short 90 minute play that’ll guarantee their money’s worth.