Recently, I attended a very seasonal, outdoor production of a stage version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in Greenville, South Carolina. It was an “Upstate Shakespeare Festival Production” in the spirit of Halloween, in a wonderful little plaza in the downtown area; curtain time appropriately set at 7pm, which made for an exciting experience with natural lighting.
Unfortunately, I cannot say that the play was as thrilling. Written and directed by John Fagan of the Warehouse theatre, it had a few interesting “story-telling” transitions, as the characters found a journal and introduced scenes through lengthy exposition. This technique, though a good idea, fell apart quickly, leaving only some overly loud and stiff actors to deliver agonizing clichés.
The play was certainly aimed at a family-based audience, but that is no excuse for bad writing. Furthermore, seeing Ichabod Crane mount a rocking-horse and ride it furiously to escape the perilous headless horsemen was not nearly as funny (or thrilling) as it sounds. Instead, the effect came across as disturbingly sexual. Finally, the appearance of said spirit was a bit of a climax, to be sure, but revealed itself to be yet another technical downfall. It might have been better to simply omit an appearance by the creature, and utilize lighting, acting, and imagination to make it real.
I hate to sound so nasty, but the play really was that disappointing. The only thing that got me through the experience was quipping with my date at nearly every line, a la Mystery Science Theater 3000. So I suppose that it was a scary experience - though for all of the wrong reasons.
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