On Demand
The Splatter Zone
By Claudia La Rocco
June 24, 2008
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, Waldo Warshaw will be up to his red-stained elbows in special effects at the Tobacco Warehouse in Dumbo, where “Macbeth 2008,” directed and adapted by Grzegorz Jarzyna, is being presented by St. Ann’s Warehouse through Sunday
While audiences are taking in TR Warszawa’s sold-out show (rush tickets are still available) and the gorgeous view, Waldo will be backstage, doing what he does best: making mayhem.
“We play with blood: blood, fire, things that go boom in the night,” Waldo explained to me cheerfully (a bit too cheerfully) on Friday night, when I got to take a little tour of the makeshift theater St. Ann’s has rigged in the roofless Tobacco Warehouse.
The automatic weapons and propane tanks were neat, as were the actors, wandering around in combat fatigues and smoking like chimneys, propane be damned (apparently, there have been a few nervous moments for the St. Ann’s staff when these actors, many of whom speak only Polish, wandered out into the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in full costume, weapons and all). But Waldo, the president of Show Effection Inc. and a special effects veteran, was definitely the highlight. Who could resist a man who so gleefully exclaims: “We like to make people look like they’re in pain. That brings great joy to me.”
People who look like they’re in pain, photographed by Pavel Antonov
“Macbeth,” I would imagine, presents many such joyful opportunities. But these things, apparently, are relative. When I asked him where this production rated on the gore scale, he thought for a moment. And then:
“If ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ would be an eight, to me like a 10 would be … anything where you see entrails come out. That’s always a 10.”
Uh, right, of course. And “Macbeth 2008″?
“This is not about entrails or big open pumping hearts,” he said. “This is a three - like a big, finger-picking nosebleed.”
Hangings don’t rate very high on the Waldo scale, apparently
For comparison, he explained that, while “The Lieutenant of Inishmore” might use as many as 11 gallons of blood in a single show (Waldo, who has nine Inishmores under his belt, expressed “a fondness” for the black comedy), “Macbeth 2008″ will use 11 gallons for its entire run.
Because “Macbeth” is a tragedy, Waldo said, he has to be careful not to overdo anything and make it look “unintentionally silly.” For a musical like “Evil Dead,” however, all bets are off.
“People paid extra to be in the splatter zone,” he explained, his smile intensifying. “They would take their ponchos off and get covered. That was quite interesting for me, to watch people come out of the theater and be excited about having ruined their clothes. I was happy to provide that service for them - at their expense and to my laughter.”
One more time, because we here at the Culturist also love severed heads. And Waldo.
Comments
Comment from Claudia La Rocco
Date: June 24, 2008, 2:04 pm
Jokes aside, I should add that St. Ann’s and the show’s technical staff have done an incredible job building this thing from scratch and manning it through all sorts of circumstances, including strong thunderstorms. When I visited they all had the same unshaven, haunted-eye look that all theater folks share as a show gets down to the wire. I hope some kind benefactor is going to buy them a lot of beers for their troubles, and soon.
Comment from jolene
Date: June 25, 2008, 10:19 pm
I never understood people who loved the splatter zone in “Evil Dead”. I had a friend who loved taking the subway after the show, covered in blood. She probably looked like an accomplice to a brutal murder. I think it’s the idea that people feel included in the thick of the action onstage.
Macbeth 2008 looks like a really cool show.
Comment from Claudia La Rocco
Date: June 25, 2008, 10:31 pm
Was this friend a performer, or a frustrated one? Sounds like a great opportunity for harmless exhibitionism. Although maybe not so harmless, depending on who was riding with her…
I have to confess: I didn’t stick around for the show. I am feeling a bit Shakespeare-d out these days. I keep thinking of something my friend said to me when we saw another “Macbeth” at BAM earlier this year: that she would rather just read the plays at this point, instead of seeing any more productions. My first defensive reaction was to dismiss that, but I think I often feel that the many versions of classics out there, at a certain point, begin to seem like mental clutter.
I am sleepy and rambling - but I think this will be another post at some point.
Comment from jolene
Date: June 26, 2008, 4:21 pm
This friend now works at a big casting firm in NY, that casts a lot of the big Broadway shows. She’s not an actor. I still think it’s odd.
Maybe I like my clothes too much.
I would think it’s easier to have Shakespeare read to me, than to read it myself, although a Shakespeare overdose is imaginable.
Comment from Todd Waite
Date: June 27, 2008, 12:13 pm
Waldo rocks!!!….I was in The Alley theatre Production of Inishmore he did (blood AND Guns!)….that’s the one that used 11 gallons. The crew were heroic in clean-up every night, and people started signing up to help ’cause Waldo’s right. Blood is fun…in the right context…and a play about how foolish bloodlust is is a good start. Wish I could see this production! Break a leg!
Comment from Claudia La Rocco
Date: June 28, 2008, 7:17 pm
I have to agree with you, Jolene - poncho or no, and despite Todd’s assertion that blood is fun (and thanks for writing in, Todd!), I can’t see buying tickets in the splatter zone.
One of the best jobs I’ve had in New York was babysitting this really smart girl who loved books. I bought her “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for some holiday, and we spent the next few weeks reading it aloud together - definitely one of the best “Midsummer” productions I’ve ever experienced.
It just seems to me, sometimes, that we lose sight of classic source material in an effort to come up with exciting new takes/interpretations/effects … it’s nice to be reminded what the big deal is by having an unadorned encounter with the plays once in awhile
Comment from Juan Navarro
Date: June 29, 2008, 8:08 pm
Waldo,
Cool. Perhaps you don’t know much about chinese films.. but they are mostly on the sad side. I should introduce your work to them and see their reaction. I’m travelling to Shanghai next Wednesday. Ciao /..
Write a comment