Brooke Moreland/Daily Texan Staff
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'Blood' and gore resurface on the stage
this weekend February 20, 2003
If you're looking for one fierce mind fuck, look no further
than Blood in Bethsaida, the Broccoli Project's current
logic-twisting production. Written by UT student Jay Bernardo
as his Plan II thesis, the play pokes fun at modern horror
conventions in a manner that would likely leave David Lynch
scratching his head.
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Blood in Bethsaida is definitely a think-piece, likely to linger with the audience long after they leave the theater. Like a Robert Altman film starring Freddy Krueger (who also happens to be one of the character's namesake), the play interweaves various characters into a storyline drenched in blood, babes and one rather brazen detective.
Bethsaida features clever bits - pay attention to the characters' last names - and a high creep factor, supplied in no smart part by a gaggle of murderous mimes. The cast naturally feeds off each other's energy, obviously relishing the chance to skew horror genres in a far more labrynthian way than recent mainstream satires like Scream.
Though some loose ends appear to remain precisely that (an oft-mentioned dead blonde at the play's beginning is all but forgotten for the rest of the performance), the mystery of Blood in Bethsaida will keep you hanging on until the gore-immersed conclusion. A play that is written so far off the beaten path will likely split its audience (and its characters) into two distinct parts: those who leave fulfilled and those who simply leave frustrated.
- Erin Steele
Blood in Bethsaida will continue its run Feb. 20-22 at 8 p.m. at the Utopia Theater. Tickets are $5.
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Brooke Moreland/ Daily Texan Staff
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By Kevin Taylor (Daily Texan Staff)
February 10, 2003
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Blood in Bethsaida, a daring new horror play by The Broccoli Project, the UT Plan II Honors Program theater troupe, will kick-off its six-day performance schedule starting Thursday Feb. 13.
Jay Bernando, who wrote the play last summer for his thesis, joins up with director Bob Jones, a Plan II senior, to convert the conventions of horror cinema to the stage. Drawing on influences such as 1920s writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft and films by David Lynch, Bethsaida is playful with the audience, sometimes even involving them in the drama.
Comprised of a cast entirely of students, Bethsaida is a chilling and spellbinding story that expands the boundaries normally expected of theater. Bethsaida is a genuinely chilling horror play.
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