Theatre Review: Downtown Rep dons a delightful Masq!
Masq! merges “Masque of the Red Death” and “The Tragedy of Hamlet” into an amazing interactive theatrical experience.
While the Black Death ravages the Italian countryside, lords and ladies distract themselves from the calamity by enjoying an elaborate masq within the barricaded walls of a lavish palazzo. Safety, however, is scarce when the masquerade is interrupted by an angry spirit seeking vengeance. You must then follow the characters through the palazzo’s haunted hallways, seeking to unravel the mystery: Is the ghost genuine, illusion, or deception? If genuine, what crime has wrenched her from the grave to seek justice? Perhaps the solution lies in the answer to the old question: cui bono?
Masq! is a whodunit wrapped up in drama and intrigue at least as fascinating as the search for a solution. The result is Downtown Repertory Theatre’s best production to date, an enjoyable hybrid of costume-drama and murder-mystery, laced with horror, and staged within the perfect immersive environment.
Theatre Review: Masq! of the Black Death
The story take place on the night of a masquerade, when the normal roles of master and servant are disguised by costumes. The celebration is marred by uneasy concerns. The lord of the manor, a former dissolute wastrel, had been struck from his late father’s will; he inherited the estate only because the designated heir, his sister, died. The story goes that she selflessly remained to comfort her family when they were stricken by the plague, but there are suggestions that she was forcibly locked in with them. Suspicion points to her brother, but his love for his late sibling seems genuine. Moreover, in his new station, and inspired by the love and generosity of his new wife, he seems genuinely dedicated to serving his people, even those overlooked by his peers. His effort to silence the whispers about his sister’s death is destroyed when the masquerade ball is interrupted by the appearance of her ghost, angry and accusatory – although, crucially, she does not name her murderer (or even definitively insist she was murdered). Even so, suspicions can no longer be ignored; the search for the truth begins…
With a masquerade taking place during plague, Masq! sounds like a riff on “The Masque of the Red Death,” but the similarity is superficial. The storyline of murder among the royals, with a ghost acting as its catalyst, suggests a revenge tragedy closer to Shakespeare than Poe. Unlike Hamlet, however, the villain’s identity is unknown, so justice must wait until the culprit can be identified. However, more is at stake than the fate of one restless soul. The future of the republic stands in the balance. Will it succumb to the plague or emerge renewed? Will the characters achieve their loftier goals or fall beneath the weight of corruption?
In the end, the mystery is only half the story, and solving the crime is not the true resolution. Instead, the audience must pass judgement on the accused. The choice is difficult. Do ends justify means? Can bad actions yield good results. What is more important: retribution for the dead or aid to the living?
Great writing and compelling performances keep the audience as interested in these questions as in the mystery. Counting clues is secondary to learning the fate that will befall characters whose aspirations are inspiring even if their methods are sometimes questionable. Like planets, all are drawn into the murdered woman orbit, each acting for reasons of their own – all of them understandable even if following them leads to inevitable tragedy.
Masq! Theatre Review: Murder in the Mausoleum
Like Downtown Rep’s previous shows (Fangs!, Witch!) Masq! is structured around a central hub where the entire audience experiences key developments in the story, before splitting up to explore different narrative threads, sometimes featuring one-on-one interactions.
In this case, Mountain View Mausoleum provides the setting. Bathed in eerie lighting – and sometimes almost no lighting at all – the rooms and spaces provide perfect settings for the action and dialogue. Moreover, the marbled halls, wide staircases, and smooth balustrades make the transitional walks from scene to scene almost as entertaining as the story; certainly, they sustain the atmosphere in a way that keeps you involved.
The mausoleum’s main hall, with its arched ceiling stands in for the palazzo’s ballroom, where the key action takes place, including the ghost’s appearances and the final confrontation. Also used are the chapel on the ground floor and several corridors, some upstairs.
The ground floor locations are all fairly close together, and unlike the old Wicked Lit shows staged at this venue, there is no walking through the cemetery; the only excursion outside is a brief paved walk to a room near the chapel.
This makes the presentation of Masq! more compressed than the version of the play seen at Heritage Square Museum in September. Downtown Repertory Theatre has been staging its plays in both locations for the past few Halloween seasons – first at the museum, then at the mausoleum. In the past we have attended productions at Heritage Sqaure, but after this we will choose the Mountain View every time. As nice as Heritage Square’s Victorian mansions are, the mausoleum provides a richer environment, and walking short distances on marble floors is far preferable to stumbling back and forth over the museum’s lengthy unpaved terrain at night.
Side Note: Because we got tired of walking up and down stairs, the play’s guides allowed us to stick to the ground floor during the second half of the show. This resulted in attending one seen twice. As noted above, Downtown Rep splits the audience into smaller groups to view scene in rooms that cannot accommodate the full group; some of those scenes are performed multiple times so that everyone can see them, though not at the same time. It was actually quite interesting to see the variation in performances on our second viewing. The room was less crowded, allowing the actors to move more freely, and it seemed to loosen up their interaction, making the scene more engaging than it had been on the first go.
Masq! Theatre Review: Conclusion
Period Piece. Costume Drama. Murder Mystery. Revenge Tragedy. Horror Story.
t is a tribute to the dramaturgy of Masq! that the multiple genre elements enhance each other so smoothly. Long before the ghost appears, you are thoroughly engrossed in political machinations that are eventually thwarted by supernatural intervention. Meanwhile, character motivations, unrequited loves, and generous impulses not only involve the audience emotionally; they also provide clues to unravel the dark secret that literally refuses to lie buried.
Because Mountain View Mausoleum serves the play so well, it is tempting to say that the venue is the real star of Masq!, but that would be a disservice to the cast. Their performances are some of the best we have ever seen at this kind of event. Immersive theatre can be a mixed bag, relying on intimate interaction to compensate for dramatic deficiency. There are certainly closeup opportunities in Masq! but their presence enhances a story strong enough to stand on its own, and the performers really sell it. All the major players have something interesting going on – hidden motivations, doubts, reluctance to face the truth – and thanks to the actors we believe the characters would behave as they do even if that behavior is misguided. We certainly understand why the dead sister’s fiancé is seeking vengeance against her brother – even while the brother engages our sympathy so deeply that we desperately hope he turns out to be innocent. When the two come to blows, it feels like the final duel between Hamlet and Laertes: both are relatable, but they are on a doomed collision course guaranteed to end in tragedy.
The difference is that, in Hamlet, the “something rotten in the state of Denmark” was merely a metaphor for human corruption. In Masq!, the corruption extends beyond human motivation to nature itself, in the form of the plague. Characters may strive mightily against their fates, but ultimately, they may live in a universe where darkness, decay, and the Black Death hold illimitable dominion over all.
Masq! (reviewed at Mountain View Mausoleum)
Rating Scale
0 – Awful
1 – Poor
2 – Mediocre
3 – Good
4 – Great
5 – Excellent
Masq! is a whodunit with more to offer than a surprising solution to its mystery. Effectively merging horror, drama, and tragedy, it’s a must-see event this Halloween.
Masq! began with a run at Heritage Square Museum from August 16 through September 2, then moved to Mountain View Mausoleum from October 4 to November 10. Tickets are $80 plus service fees. Complimentary beverages are included. Comfortable shoes are recommended since you will be following characters outside on uneven terrain (at Heritage Square) or up and down stairs (at Mountain View Mausoleum). Mountain View Mausoleum is located at 2300 N Marengo Avenue in Altadena. For more information, visit downtownrep.com.
Note: This review is based on a dress rehearsal at Mountain View Mausoleum. After weeks of performing at Heritage Square Museum, the actors had their roles down pat. The only issue was with the timing of scenes in different locations, which led to occasional delays for audience members split from the main group. We assume this was fixed by the time the show opened to the public.
Masq! at Mountain View Mausoleum Photo Gallery
