LOCO PHANTASMO (2008)
Beth needs sperm, Dad needs his meds, the Red Queen needs a head. Things could get messy.
Loco Phantasmo is a dark comedy with music that explores the intersections between artistic inspiration, imagination and madness. Written and directed by Nicola Harwood with music by Don Macdonald, the play was produced by Twin Fish Theatre in Nelson, BC and featured Bessie Wapp, Lisel Forst, Michael Graham and Brahm Taylor.
SYNOPSIS
Beth, a street performer, is thirty-nine years old and wants to have a baby. When she meets Cody, a punk musician, it looks like they might just get together and procreate. But Beth’s artist father is manic-depressive and dangerously close to going over the edge while Cody is stressed out and struggling to adapt to his first real job at Toys R Us. As Beth and Cody negotiate the stormy waters of anxious art freaks in love, Beth’s father tosses his meds and hits the streets. Will Beth get her wish of having a “real” family? Will she rescue her father before the Red Queen takes his head? Will Cody learn how to iron a uniform? Loco Phantasmo veers from high farce to raw tragedy, exposing the very real cost of mental illness on those who suffer from it and on those who care for them.
REVIEW
“This wholly original and thoroughly engaging musical takes a sympathetic and intelligent look at the connection between creativity and mental illness… The music by Don Macdonald is by turns melodic, manic, dissonant and always eccentric.”
Stephen Fowler, Nelson Daily News, June 28, 2008
AUDIENCE COMMENTS
“It is not just about the madness of artists. It is about the madness of the modern world; the undermining of all things beautiful and creative and free.”
“You managed flash and depth, humor and heart-aching humanity.”
“I LOVE black comedy and your play was a continuous flow of humor that made the awful darkness sneak its way into the soul.”
“Thank you again for your sensitive insights into mental illness and its effects, especially on close relationships.”