A Midnight Visit | Broad Encounters
Gothic-haunted-horror-house meets Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride … but make it sexy.
Rarely does a show that boasts “an experience like no other*” fully live up to such high expectations. A Midnight Visit, however, does not disappoint and is truly unlike any theatre I’ve experienced before. If I had to explain the show in just a few words I would describe it as a gothic-haunted-horror-house meets Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride … but make it sexy.
Loosely based on the life and works of 19th century poet Edgar Allan Poe, I felt that A Midnight Visit was a surreal and idealised glimpse into the mind, mystery, and misery of creative folk. The premise of the show is that you are entering a dreamworld, or underworld, where you can explore and interact as much, or as little, as you please with the rooms, props, or residents of the dream state. The residents are all ghosts based upon characters from Poe’s works. While I am not super familiar with much of Poe’s work, except that which has permeated pop culture, it was evident that immense thought had gone into playfully weaving various references throughout the experience. Even a Sparknotes afficionado like myself could understand some of the well-known references. The references that I didn’t understand ultimately had no effect on the way that I viewed the piece. So don’t be deterred if Poe is not your thing, because the experience and immersive qualities of A Midnight Visit were the key aspects of the show for me. If anything, a limited knowledge of Poe’s work may actually enhance your creative interpretation and interaction with this immersive piece.
Image: Drew Fairley. Cover image: Fernanda Calau
Due to the nature of A Midnight Visit there is no distinct storyline, instead you can connect the dots of different rooms and residents however you please. I suppose how I understood it was that we were walking through the state between life and death: purgatory. What unfolds is ghostly figures coming to terms with death (their own and others) or avoiding this inevitable constant in life. What the creative team of A Midnight Visit have created is truly something wonderful that transported me into a world where my imagination could run wild. I felt childlike exploring the rooms and listening to the characters, as though I was romping around an exciting large playground for the first time.
The set and props were incredible! So much detail went into every room that I ventured into, ensuring that every sense was activated at some point during the experience. There were endless possibilities for touch and interaction with elements in every room. One room smelled exactly like an old church, while another had lollies to taste. I only saw maybe 12 out of the 30 rooms within the experience and if they are anything to go by, I imagine that the rooms I missed would be just as exciting and intriguing. The team behind the sound design also did an exceptional job as the music and soundscape that constantly played in the background of the dream was incredibly eery, setting the tone perfectly as our fantasies, or nightmares, played out.
All eight of the performers in A Midnight Visit were extremely engaging and entertaining to watch. The show allowed each performer to showcase their interdisciplinary talents as they drew me in to their world of dance, song, poetry, and amazing acting. I was particularly drawn to Meg Hickey’s performance as The Actor. She was very quirky, chaotic, and unusual; I was positively entranced by her performance. Fairly early in my viewing experience I had the pleasure of listening to Hickey sing a beautifully dark rendition of Queen’s The Show Must Go On. Her voice was mesmerising, and I couldn’t have thought of a better way to enchant me into the dreamworld.
Image: Peter Wallis
Admittedly, I didn’t explore all the rooms because I currently have mobility issues. In terms of accessibility, those in wheelchairs may find this event challenging because some of the hallways are quite narrow. This is not to say that I would recommend completely avoiding it, I would just caution that it may be a bit awkward manoeuvring through this space. I opted for crutches and the biggest challenge for me was some uneven flooring. It didn’t hugely impact my experience but did mean that I had to move quite slowly through those areas. There was a place to sit down in every room (except for the final scene) and because you can choose your own pace, I could take breaks when I needed to. I did need to stand for the final scene, but it wasn’t particularly long so it didn’t impact me too much. There was a crawl space, which I was unable to explore and a second floor that I could have managed the stairs for, but I didn’t have the time to venture to. I will admit that I was very jealous when I saw people going through the crawl space because I’m a total sucker for little hidey-holes and every person I saw emerging from the space looked like they were enjoying themselves.
I would have loved to have seen every room; an hour was simply not enough time for me to do so. I did, however, really enjoy exploring each room at a slow pace and don’t feel that my inability to discover every room took away from my viewing experience. In a way, I feel that one of the amazing things about this kind of theatre is that every person will experience something completely different depending on their own pace, curiosities, imagination, and their interactions with the objects, rooms, and actors. Even my viewing companion, who followed the same path as I did, describes the show completely differently to me. The first thing they said as we departed the experience was: “What a horny show!” While I would describe it as more of a ‘sexy-underworld-experience’, I wouldn’t personally opt for ‘horny’ as a descriptor.
If the two of our experiences are anything to go by, I imagine that it would be almost impossible to have the same experience if you were to view this same piece multiple times. Since there are several scenarios taking place in different rooms simultaneously, it would also not be possible to view every scene with every character in a single viewing. I would love to go again and choose a different path or focus on the rooms that I missed during this viewing.
A Midnight Visit is a gothic playground for adults, and I highly recommend this show! It really is unlike any art I have experienced before. The whole show was a lot of fun and if I had the opportunity, I would absolutely go again.
*Quote: A Midnight Visit website.
Image: Peter Wallis
