by Bryan Colley and Tara Varney
In 1941, five people gathered in a remote Maryland cabin to put
a curse on Adolf Hitler and end World War II using witchcraft.
a curse on Adolf Hitler and end World War II using witchcraft.
This is the true story of what happened that night.
Starring:
Kipp Simmons as William Seabrook
Sarah Mae Lamar as Constance Kuhr
Doogin Brown as Richard Tupper
Melody Butler as Ruth Birdseye
Parry Luellen as Tom McAvoy
Sarah Mae Lamar as Constance Kuhr
Doogin Brown as Richard Tupper
Melody Butler as Ruth Birdseye
Parry Luellen as Tom McAvoy
Directed by Tara Varney
REVIEWS:
Hexing Hitler: 30 July 2011 - Kansas City, MO
By William Carl Ferleman, popmatters.com
Bryan Colley and Tara Varney’s daring, seminal Hexing Hitler concerns five persons in the hinterland of Maryland who attempt to curse, or hex, Adolf Hitler in 1941. It is influenced by a LIFE story during the war period. Director Tara Varney perceptively turns the play into a meditation on fascism, not on Hitler so much; save for some rather indirect vein. Thematically, it is not as Der Untergang-like as it is Tempest-like in terms of Machiavellian politics, magic, innocence, knowledge, and wrongdoing.
The principal characters entail the ostensibly erudite and assuredly dipsomaniacal William Seabrook (Kipp Simmons) and the seemingly spoiled, naively submissive girl-who-just-wants-to-have-fun sort, Ruth Birdseye (Melody Butler). Put otherwise, Richard Dawkins would likely describe Ms. Birdseye as one of those biologically promiscuous women, indeed a bona fide trollop. Her long, red coat gives her away. Initially, Ruth Birdseye is reluctant to participate in the curse on Hitler, but she quickly consents—primarily because she wants to please her chauvinistic, fraternity-type boyfriend. Later, she claims she thought the malediction was merely a “lark”, or, trivial game. Unfortunately, she is not taken seriously by the rest of the group, and moreover, she is the butt of several hurtful jokes pertaining to her will and intellect. It seems the party has other items in mind for her.
Actress Melody Butler had a few words to share about her character, ” I think Ms. Birdseye is at a stereotype view a socialite. But more than that she is a person who needs a lot of attention and a lot of re-assurance. She is the life of the party because that is what she was raised to be- but there is something dark inside of her. I think she has an inkling that it is there but has never really expressed it before the night in the cabin. That being said, I don’t think she is a bad person. I think she is a product of her environment- she has been given everything her whole life (except for maybe real meaningful love) and has convinced herself that the things she was given are the things she really wants.”
Notwithstanding, Birdseye soon becomes passionate and obsessive-compulsive about eliminating Hitler; she’s caught in the curse of the moment. At this particular point, Butler’s acting is spot-on and most credible. As Birdseye batters and stabs an effigy of Hitler, she in effect knocks his martial hat and emblematic arm band to the floor; her frenzied facial features and animated body betray her commitment to the plot. She later cannot recall exactly what took hold of her. But Butler’s intense, histrionic technique did not remain unnoticed. Her hybrid acting, a nice combination of trance and a certain verisimilitude, is sound. Birdseye’s engaging and mantic antics during this critical scene are the play’s pinnacle.
Once one is beyond a mannequin bedecked in chic Nazi attire, the social commentary arrives. For example, a coven can effect good deeds and rid the world of a fascist Catholic, please forgive the redundancy. Let’s cite the first line of Hitler’s Mein Kampf, which is conceptually Christian: “Today it seems to me providential that Fate should have chosen Braunau on the Inn as my birthplace”. A rather good, resentful Christian Hitler must have been, but perchance he was a mightier, theocratic propagandist. That members of an occult religion could accomplish an ostensibly ethical thing is still somehow controversial, as is the plain fact that in reality not all Christians are charitable or noble. It’s ironic that the coven uses fascist methods to terminate fascism.
Indeed, the play meaningfully studies fascism, going so far as to show it in action, albeit subtly. Constance Kuhr (Sarah Mae Lamar), Seabrook’s lady friend, notes that official Nazi policy is that the interests of the state trump those of the individual. If you will, a terse summation of fascism. Seabrook and Kuhr are twin power brokers, and they slyly manipulate and control Birdseye, the impressionable dame. Both more than persuade her to perform the hex, and to assassinate Hitler. Birdseye, says Seabrook, is supposedly nature embodied. Being female, she is thus a born leader.
William Seabrook rather is the puppet-master. He informs Birdseye that her personal thoughts of contempt are most important to the curse’s success rate. Furthermore, the Polonius-like tool Kuhr tells Birdseye that her soul must be sacrificed as well but later advises her to bury her guilt with the dummy Hitler’s decapitated head. Kuhr thereby concedes her specific role in the devastating corrupting of Birdseye. Good luck to both, as guilt is tightly wound up with the mind. Hans Frank related that, “A thousand years will pass and the guilt of Germany will not be erased”—just prior to his execution at Nuremberg.
Hexing Hitler
By pacconi, KC Stage
5 out of 5. Add Hexing Hitler to your list of must-see shows at this year's Fringe Festival. Penned and directed by Bryan Colley and Tara Varney, the team who brought last year's super successful KHAAAAAN! the Musical, to the Off Center stage, this year's offering is darker and more compelling.. I expect I will think for some time about this show, which was inspired by a photo essay in Life magazine. The setting is a cabin in the Maryland woods populated by the photographer, plus William Seabrook, a Depression-era, true-life, Indiana Jones-style author and adventurer, along with his narcissistic friend, Dickey, and their ladies -- a ditsy socialite and heiress to Birdseye food bucks, and Seabrook's clever, plain spoken, pregnant girlfriend.
All the actors believably inhabit the nervous, brink-of-war era of 1941. but performance honors belong to the women. Melody Butler is delicious as Ruth Birdseye, the screaming, laughing, drinking, stumbling Paris Hilton of her day. Whether she is frivolously prancing and posing, or seriously conjuring, Butler charismatically draws focus to her and her alone. Sarah Mae Lamar's best moments as Constance are before and after the dervish Butler comes and goes. Constance loves the wayward Seabrook, disapproves of his drinking, and has her own reasons for hating Hitler. Lamar doesn't make as much noise as Butler, but she is an intense and powerful presence, not only in what she says, but also in what goes unsaid.
The crew dress a mannequin as Hitler and proceed to curse, shake, slap, stab. twice behead, burn and bury him Besides Jamaican rum, the essential element for the project to succeed is the photographer. Seabrook explains that Hitler must see the photos and believe his was cursed in order for the hex to work its psychological damage. Both Hitler and Seabrook end up soundly cursed by evening's end. Do such things work? The program explains that both men committed suicide in close chronological proximity.
Hexing Hitler puts a spell on you
by WatchNSee, KC Stage
Another exciting year kicks off for this 2011 KC Fringe Festival. Watching folks wander toward their chosen shows and events with an air of excitement and eagerness couldn't help but make the swirling crowds feel charged with electricity, surging out to connect with the many creative outlets.
This year's first review took me to a Fringe favorite of many seasons, Bryan Colley and Tara Varney. And this year's presentation, "Hexing Hitler", has proven the writing talents of Colley and Varney to entertain and make you think. What would happen if a group of dabbling occultists decided to try and help out the war effort? Could a hex be done if the right words are chanted and enough rum consumed? "Hexing Hitler" tries to recall what happened on that cold winter night in 1941, when a "Life" magazine photographer takes photos of a drunken writer, his worried for his well being wife, a sly socialite, and her well meaning but egocentric boyfriend call upon mystic powers to bring the downfall of Adolf Hitler.
While the performance was enjoyable to watch and the story entertaining, I couldn't help but watch Melody Butler as Ruth Birdseye bring a life and depth to her character that drew the audience to her performance much like the "mystic power" to cast the hexing blow against the Reich. Her interactions with the rest of the cast seemed to draw out a deeper "mojo", making the scenes almost ebb and flow at her command. Kipp Simmons as William Seabrook made me hearken back to old black and white monster movies where the in the known professor shares back story and direction to drive the story forward. His presentation of his adventures could have been overdone, making the B-rate film feel of the piece fall apart, but Simmons gave it a life and focus that kept the cheese out and texture in.
Off-Center Theatre at Crown Center was a perfect location for this show. Being close enough to the performers lets you feel almost a part of the circle of magic cast by characters and actors alike, but not cramped and uncomfortable to distract you from the story. Another plus of the location is the fine bar available to patrons wanting to get in. But one of the best parts of this show was the swag you could buy. For $5, the crew was selling miniature Hitler voodoo dolls. These micro-dictators are a sure to be sold out fast but not as fast as tickets to these performances. Be sure to catch one of the six more performances at the Off-Center Theatre at Crown Center.
REVIEWS:
Hexing Hitler: 30 July 2011 - Kansas City, MO
By William Carl Ferleman, popmatters.com
Bryan Colley and Tara Varney’s daring, seminal Hexing Hitler concerns five persons in the hinterland of Maryland who attempt to curse, or hex, Adolf Hitler in 1941. It is influenced by a LIFE story during the war period. Director Tara Varney perceptively turns the play into a meditation on fascism, not on Hitler so much; save for some rather indirect vein. Thematically, it is not as Der Untergang-like as it is Tempest-like in terms of Machiavellian politics, magic, innocence, knowledge, and wrongdoing.
The principal characters entail the ostensibly erudite and assuredly dipsomaniacal William Seabrook (Kipp Simmons) and the seemingly spoiled, naively submissive girl-who-just-wants-to-have-fun sort, Ruth Birdseye (Melody Butler). Put otherwise, Richard Dawkins would likely describe Ms. Birdseye as one of those biologically promiscuous women, indeed a bona fide trollop. Her long, red coat gives her away. Initially, Ruth Birdseye is reluctant to participate in the curse on Hitler, but she quickly consents—primarily because she wants to please her chauvinistic, fraternity-type boyfriend. Later, she claims she thought the malediction was merely a “lark”, or, trivial game. Unfortunately, she is not taken seriously by the rest of the group, and moreover, she is the butt of several hurtful jokes pertaining to her will and intellect. It seems the party has other items in mind for her.
Actress Melody Butler had a few words to share about her character, ” I think Ms. Birdseye is at a stereotype view a socialite. But more than that she is a person who needs a lot of attention and a lot of re-assurance. She is the life of the party because that is what she was raised to be- but there is something dark inside of her. I think she has an inkling that it is there but has never really expressed it before the night in the cabin. That being said, I don’t think she is a bad person. I think she is a product of her environment- she has been given everything her whole life (except for maybe real meaningful love) and has convinced herself that the things she was given are the things she really wants.”
Notwithstanding, Birdseye soon becomes passionate and obsessive-compulsive about eliminating Hitler; she’s caught in the curse of the moment. At this particular point, Butler’s acting is spot-on and most credible. As Birdseye batters and stabs an effigy of Hitler, she in effect knocks his martial hat and emblematic arm band to the floor; her frenzied facial features and animated body betray her commitment to the plot. She later cannot recall exactly what took hold of her. But Butler’s intense, histrionic technique did not remain unnoticed. Her hybrid acting, a nice combination of trance and a certain verisimilitude, is sound. Birdseye’s engaging and mantic antics during this critical scene are the play’s pinnacle.
Once one is beyond a mannequin bedecked in chic Nazi attire, the social commentary arrives. For example, a coven can effect good deeds and rid the world of a fascist Catholic, please forgive the redundancy. Let’s cite the first line of Hitler’s Mein Kampf, which is conceptually Christian: “Today it seems to me providential that Fate should have chosen Braunau on the Inn as my birthplace”. A rather good, resentful Christian Hitler must have been, but perchance he was a mightier, theocratic propagandist. That members of an occult religion could accomplish an ostensibly ethical thing is still somehow controversial, as is the plain fact that in reality not all Christians are charitable or noble. It’s ironic that the coven uses fascist methods to terminate fascism.
Indeed, the play meaningfully studies fascism, going so far as to show it in action, albeit subtly. Constance Kuhr (Sarah Mae Lamar), Seabrook’s lady friend, notes that official Nazi policy is that the interests of the state trump those of the individual. If you will, a terse summation of fascism. Seabrook and Kuhr are twin power brokers, and they slyly manipulate and control Birdseye, the impressionable dame. Both more than persuade her to perform the hex, and to assassinate Hitler. Birdseye, says Seabrook, is supposedly nature embodied. Being female, she is thus a born leader.
William Seabrook rather is the puppet-master. He informs Birdseye that her personal thoughts of contempt are most important to the curse’s success rate. Furthermore, the Polonius-like tool Kuhr tells Birdseye that her soul must be sacrificed as well but later advises her to bury her guilt with the dummy Hitler’s decapitated head. Kuhr thereby concedes her specific role in the devastating corrupting of Birdseye. Good luck to both, as guilt is tightly wound up with the mind. Hans Frank related that, “A thousand years will pass and the guilt of Germany will not be erased”—just prior to his execution at Nuremberg.
Hexing Hitler
By pacconi, KC Stage
5 out of 5. Add Hexing Hitler to your list of must-see shows at this year's Fringe Festival. Penned and directed by Bryan Colley and Tara Varney, the team who brought last year's super successful KHAAAAAN! the Musical, to the Off Center stage, this year's offering is darker and more compelling.. I expect I will think for some time about this show, which was inspired by a photo essay in Life magazine. The setting is a cabin in the Maryland woods populated by the photographer, plus William Seabrook, a Depression-era, true-life, Indiana Jones-style author and adventurer, along with his narcissistic friend, Dickey, and their ladies -- a ditsy socialite and heiress to Birdseye food bucks, and Seabrook's clever, plain spoken, pregnant girlfriend.
All the actors believably inhabit the nervous, brink-of-war era of 1941. but performance honors belong to the women. Melody Butler is delicious as Ruth Birdseye, the screaming, laughing, drinking, stumbling Paris Hilton of her day. Whether she is frivolously prancing and posing, or seriously conjuring, Butler charismatically draws focus to her and her alone. Sarah Mae Lamar's best moments as Constance are before and after the dervish Butler comes and goes. Constance loves the wayward Seabrook, disapproves of his drinking, and has her own reasons for hating Hitler. Lamar doesn't make as much noise as Butler, but she is an intense and powerful presence, not only in what she says, but also in what goes unsaid.
The crew dress a mannequin as Hitler and proceed to curse, shake, slap, stab. twice behead, burn and bury him Besides Jamaican rum, the essential element for the project to succeed is the photographer. Seabrook explains that Hitler must see the photos and believe his was cursed in order for the hex to work its psychological damage. Both Hitler and Seabrook end up soundly cursed by evening's end. Do such things work? The program explains that both men committed suicide in close chronological proximity.
Hexing Hitler puts a spell on you
by WatchNSee, KC Stage
Another exciting year kicks off for this 2011 KC Fringe Festival. Watching folks wander toward their chosen shows and events with an air of excitement and eagerness couldn't help but make the swirling crowds feel charged with electricity, surging out to connect with the many creative outlets.
This year's first review took me to a Fringe favorite of many seasons, Bryan Colley and Tara Varney. And this year's presentation, "Hexing Hitler", has proven the writing talents of Colley and Varney to entertain and make you think. What would happen if a group of dabbling occultists decided to try and help out the war effort? Could a hex be done if the right words are chanted and enough rum consumed? "Hexing Hitler" tries to recall what happened on that cold winter night in 1941, when a "Life" magazine photographer takes photos of a drunken writer, his worried for his well being wife, a sly socialite, and her well meaning but egocentric boyfriend call upon mystic powers to bring the downfall of Adolf Hitler.
While the performance was enjoyable to watch and the story entertaining, I couldn't help but watch Melody Butler as Ruth Birdseye bring a life and depth to her character that drew the audience to her performance much like the "mystic power" to cast the hexing blow against the Reich. Her interactions with the rest of the cast seemed to draw out a deeper "mojo", making the scenes almost ebb and flow at her command. Kipp Simmons as William Seabrook made me hearken back to old black and white monster movies where the in the known professor shares back story and direction to drive the story forward. His presentation of his adventures could have been overdone, making the B-rate film feel of the piece fall apart, but Simmons gave it a life and focus that kept the cheese out and texture in.
Off-Center Theatre at Crown Center was a perfect location for this show. Being close enough to the performers lets you feel almost a part of the circle of magic cast by characters and actors alike, but not cramped and uncomfortable to distract you from the story. Another plus of the location is the fine bar available to patrons wanting to get in. But one of the best parts of this show was the swag you could buy. For $5, the crew was selling miniature Hitler voodoo dolls. These micro-dictators are a sure to be sold out fast but not as fast as tickets to these performances. Be sure to catch one of the six more performances at the Off-Center Theatre at Crown Center.
(Parry Luellen, Sarah Mae Lamar, Doogin Brown, Kipp Simmons, Melody Butler. Photo: Bryan Colley)
(Doogin Brown, Melody Butler, Kipp Simmons, Sarah Mae Lamar, Parry Luellen. Photo: Bryan Colley)
EXCERPT:
CONSTANCE
I told you we should have slowed down for them.
SEABROOK
They'll find it.
SEABROOK
I always go into battle armed.
Hello.
SEABROOK
I'm William Seabrook.
EXCERPT:
CONSTANCE
I told you we should have slowed down for them.
SEABROOK
They'll find it.
CONSTANCE
You just couldn't wait to get into Tom's liquor cabinet.
You just couldn't wait to get into Tom's liquor cabinet.
SEABROOK
That's right. What'll you have?
That's right. What'll you have?
CONSTANCE
I'm not drinking.
I'm not drinking.
SEABROOK
Why not?
Why not?
CONSTANCE
And you shouldn't either. You'll just end up making a fool of yourself.
And you shouldn't either. You'll just end up making a fool of yourself.
SEABROOK
I think that's going to happen regardless.
I think that's going to happen regardless.
She blocks the liquor cabinet.
CONSTANCE
You've already had enough.
You've already had enough.
SEABROOK
You can't stop me.
You can't stop me.
CONSTANCE
I can try.
I can try.
He steps toward her menacingly, smiles and pulls a flask from his jacket.
SEABROOK
I always go into battle armed.
CONSTANCE
Armed and dangerous.
Armed and dangerous.
SEABROOK
If I'm going to do this silly thing, I'm going to do it drunk.
If I'm going to do this silly thing, I'm going to do it drunk.
CONSTANCE
You're killing yourself, Willie. I can't stand by anymore and watch you live your life in a drunken stupor.
You're killing yourself, Willie. I can't stand by anymore and watch you live your life in a drunken stupor.
SEABROOK
Does that mean you're leaving me?
Does that mean you're leaving me?
CONSTANCE
Would you like that?
Would you like that?
A scream, and RUTH BIRDSEYE enters with a half-empty bottle in her hand.
RUTH
Hi! Hey!
SEABROOKHi! Hey!
Hello.
RUTH
This looks like the right place.
This looks like the right place.
She gives a bloodcurdling scream out the door.
SEABROOK
I'm William Seabrook.
RUTH
I just loved your book! That one about all of your adventures in Arabia? What was it called?
I just loved your book! That one about all of your adventures in Arabia? What was it called?
SEABROOK
Adventures in Arabia.
Adventures in Arabia.
RUTH
That's the one! Dickie made me read it and I didn’t want to at first but gosh, it was really great. So exciting. A sheik, a real sheik! Such wealth. I want to see the babies.
That's the one! Dickie made me read it and I didn’t want to at first but gosh, it was really great. So exciting. A sheik, a real sheik! Such wealth. I want to see the babies.
CONSTANCE
The babies?
The babies?
RUTH
They paint their babies, right, like grown women, with kohl and rouge? Oh, they sounded so pretty!
They paint their babies, right, like grown women, with kohl and rouge? Oh, they sounded so pretty!
SEABROOK
They were very precious. A bit like dolls.
They were very precious. A bit like dolls.
RUTH
But some of it was terrifying - those honor killings, they call them? Scary. And they eat that fermented goat's milk? I don't think I could do that. I don't know. Maybe. Was it good?
But some of it was terrifying - those honor killings, they call them? Scary. And they eat that fermented goat's milk? I don't think I could do that. I don't know. Maybe. Was it good?
SEABROOK
I found it pleasant.
I found it pleasant.
RUTH
But you travel a lot, right? So maybe that makes a difference. I don't really. I'd like to travel more, have adventures, meet people. Sometimes I go with my father on business trips, but it's not really the same. Cleveland, Des Moines, Minneapolis – that’s not really experiencing the world, you know? But I forget my manners. I’m Ruth Birdseye.
But you travel a lot, right? So maybe that makes a difference. I don't really. I'd like to travel more, have adventures, meet people. Sometimes I go with my father on business trips, but it's not really the same. Cleveland, Des Moines, Minneapolis – that’s not really experiencing the world, you know? But I forget my manners. I’m Ruth Birdseye.
She extends her hand to Constance.
CONSTANCE
Frozen foods?
Frozen foods?
RUTH
That’s right.
That’s right.
SEABROOK
This is my acquaintance, Constance.
This is my acquaintance, Constance.
CONSTANCE
Acquaintance? Dear God.
Acquaintance? Dear God.
She grabs Seabrook's flask and drinks.
RUTH
Dickie said you two were married.
Dickie said you two were married.
SEABROOK
Where is Dickie anyway?
Where is Dickie anyway?
RUTH
He should be right behind me. I saw the light and ran ahead, but he was scared of the dark woods.
He should be right behind me. I saw the light and ran ahead, but he was scared of the dark woods.
She screams out the door again.
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