WELCOME
TO THE HYPNODROME

Bay Area theatergoers are in for a glorious shock this fall  in a thrilling new chapter in San Francisco underground theater, by reviving the suspenseful, sensational—and blood-spattered—Grand Guignol tradition of 1920s Paris.

In an ambitious expansion of its popular Shocktoberfest!!! extravaganzas, local theatrical troupe THRILLPEDDLERS is debuting—in a brand new, exclusive-use venue—three classic tales of terror never before performed for American audiences.

“There is an incredible similarity between contemporary San Francisco, and the cultural climate that fostered the original Grand Guignol theatre in Paris,” says THRILLPEDDLERS co-founder and creative director, Russell Blackwood. “Our goal is to shake people out of their jaded mindsets by reclaiming and reinterpreting the poignancy, potency, and subversiveness of the original plays, which are just as shocking and challenging today as when they were first staged, more than eighty years ago.”

The Hypnodrome itself is a grandiose new performance space at 575 10th Street, in the SOMA district. Donated by a private benefactor for the exclusive use of THRILLPEDDLERS, it is large enough to accommodate intricate lighting, special effects and sideshow rigging, without sacrificing the intimacy that has given the troupe a reputation for “in your face” spectacle.

Blackwood considers Grand Guignol his “missionary work,” and for Welcome to the Hypnodrome he is reaching outside the theatre to collaborate with notable “kindred spirits” in the local arts scene. He sought out acclaimed San Francisco musical and performance artist Jill Tracy to make her theatrical debut as Welcome to the Hypnodrome ‘s leading lady.

“The lost artistry—and the thrill—of traditional Grand Guignol is all the more vital today,” Jill Tracy remarks. “It taps the vein of our fears and desires on a deeper, human level at a time when audiences have been numbed by computer-generated entertainment and digitized sensations.”

Hailed by critics as a “femme fatale for the thinking man,” Jill Tracy’s evocative music and provocative style conjures the decadent spirit of the original Grand Guignol period, and influenced Blackwood’s selection of plays.  He painstakingly searched for Charles Mere’s 1928 L’homme nu (The Beast) to feature Tracy at the helm of an ornate nineteenth-century reed organ, as the tortured “Countess Edwige.”

To adapt the U.S. premiere of Maurice Renard’s L’Amant de la Morte (Lover of the Dead) THRILLPEDDLERS enlisted prize-winning crime novelist Eddie Muller, cited as “Best Local Noir Fiend” by the SF Weekly for his hugely popular annual film noir festival at the Castro Theatre.

“What noir is to crime fiction, Grand Guignol is to horror,” Muller explains. “It’s not afraid to go to the darkest places, but it gets there with wit, style, and imagination. It’ll be scary, but fun—for the performers and the audience.”

Contributing to Hypnodrome’s “spookshow” atmosphere will be renowned Bay Area mentalist Bob Taxin, whose spellbinding mind magic will be seamlessly integrated into the show. A master escape artist and fire eater, among other talents, Taxin is also a veteran of the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus, and former instructor at their world famous Clown College.

Welcome to the Hypnodrome also incorporates sensational shenanigans inspired by horror film impresario William Castle. “The audience won’t know what to expect. They may be plunged into darkness, visited by spirits, and extra attractions of our own devising,” exclaims Blackwood. “That creates a delicious sense of suspense throughout the evening. The theater will also feature reserved private booths called ‘Shock Boxes,’” he laughs. “You can see the show, but the show can’t see you. This is an exciting, unpredictable evening of entertainment—for those who dare.”

“Welcome to the Hypnodrome will kick THRILLPEDDLERS’ tried-and–true pageant of terror and titillation up to a entirely different level,” Blackwood promises. “We don’t see this as another one-shot seasonal Halloween event, but as the beginning of a long-running San Francisco performance tradition.”

Thrillpeddlers ensemble: Eliote Durham, Delfina Hasiwar, Eric O’Brien, Brian Raffi, Jeff Taub, Bob Taxin, Tristan Thunderbolt, Jill Tracy.
BIOGRAPHIES  (Interviews and photographs available upon request)

Russell Blackwood eagerly produced and directed the first Grand Guignol script he laid his hands on, resulting in his 1991 production of the 1916 shocker, The Laboratory of Hallucinations.  “A fiendish terror is loose in the city, courtesy of Russell Blackwood,” proclaimed the Bay Guardian. The onstage carnage had just begun.  He founded San Francisco-based THRILLPEDDLERS, a theatre company dedicated to Grand Guignol.  It produced the American premiere of Clive Barker’s Frankenstein in Love, the “Best of the SF Fringe" hit Mondo Andronicus, A Crime in a Madhouse and The Medium in Pretoria, South Africa and, since 1999, Shocktoberfest!!, San Francisco’s  annual pageant of terror and titillation.  Today, Blackwood is a leading authority on this taboo-breaking, blood-spilling theatrical genre and THRILLPEDDLERS is the vangard of the worldwide resurgence of Grand Guignol.

Blackwood is also a busy freelance director of classical theatre, new works and opera.  His productions have played South Africa, Taiwan, London and throughout the U.S.  Grand Guignol frequently informs his approach to other genres and vice versa.  His “ghoulish and grandiose” Shotgun Players’ production of Euripides’ Medea, performed in an abandoned movie theatre, spooked delighted Berkeley audiences.  Oakland Tribune reviewer Chad Jones found it “as grandly melodramatic as a flickering silent film” and Medea earned a place in the critics’ Top 10 List of Best of Bay Area Theatre 2002.

Russell Blackwood: www.grandguignol.com

Jill Tracy Photo credit: Jim Ferreira Click image for hi-res version

Jill Tracy has garnered multiple awards and a devoted following for her evocative music, sophisticated lyrics, old-world glamour and curious passion for strange tales. Lauded by critics as a “femme fatale for the thinking man,” Tracy was described by NPR’s All Things Considered as “utterly intriguing…luring you into a magical kingdom solely of her creation.” Her signature sound conjures up images of wonder cabinets, hidden passageways and opium dens, but at the same time, it’s shockingly new. Bay Area performances of Jill Tracy and The Malcontent Orchestra’s original score to F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu have had continuous sell-out crowds the past five years. Her CD Diabolical Streak has received radio airplay from Santa Cruz to Siberia. This past May, she was profiled on Swedish National Television.

Her 2003 animated short film, The Fine Art of Poisoning (directed by Bill Domonkos) has won close to 30 national film festival awards, including being named one of the “Best Short Films of the Year” by both the New York City and Chicago Film Foundations. A DVD release of The Fine Art . . ., along with a short documentary on the macabre history of poisoning, is due in October. She is currently creating songs for a new album.

Jill Tracy: www.jilltracy.com


Eddie Muller, a native San Franciscan, is a novelist, journalist, filmmaker, and graphic designer, whose work has earned him the nickname “The Czar of Noir.” His fiction debut, The Distance, was recognized by the Private Eye Writers of America as “Best First Novel of 2002.” It was nominated for the Anthony, Macavity and Barry awards in the same category. His books on film noir, Dark City, Dark City Dames, and The Art of Noir, have been lauded by James Ellroy, Leonard Maltin, Paul Schrader, and many others as the best on the subject, and have twice been nominated for Edgar Awards by the Mystery Writers of America. Muller’s NOIR CITY: The San Francisco Film Noir Festival, held each January at the Castro Theatre, has garnered him a “Best of the Bay” honor from the Bay Guardian, and the mantle “Best Local Noir Fiend” from the SF Weekly. He has appeared on AMC, A&E, ABC, and TCM as a film noir expert. Mau Mau Sex Sex, a documentary coproduced and written by Muller, achieved notoriety for its status as one of the first digitally produced and distributed feature-length films. 

Eddie Muller: www.noircity.com



The Troupe
Eliote Durham, Delfina Hasiwar, Eric O'Brien, Brian Raffi, Jeff Taub, Bob Taxin, Tristan Thunderbolt and Jill Tracy

Russell Blackwood Producer and Director
Jim Toczyl Producer
Eddie Muller Dramaturg and Writer
Robert Keefe Writer
Michael Wilson Writer
Richard J. Hand Writer
Heather Basarab Lighting Designer
Sophia Fong Lighting Designer
Donovan Thompson Costume Designer and Host
Peggy Ford Associate Director
Gregory Hoffman Fight Director
Jill Tracy Publicity, Composer and Visionary
Bill Selby Graphic Designer
Michael Dalessandro Board Operator
Jon Bradford Odd Job Monkey
Jonathan Horton Prosthetic Effects
Dan Corr Shock Box Designer
Nick Scoggin Carpenter
Carol Terrell Painter

Sponsors
Eric Horton (in honor of his great-grandfather, Charles Noonon, Director of Le ThŽ‰tre du Grand Guignol)
Gay Pocket San Francisco, Kim Larsen Pena Pachamama, Quentin and Eddy Navia
Acknowledgements
David Ratner, Mel Gordon, Bob Pritikin, Theatre Bay Area, David Allen, Jim Ferreira, Dick Newton, Jim Tyler (www.reedorganman.com), Melissa Wagner, Jane Ganahl, George Coates Performance Works, Phoebus Lighting, Patrick Dooley and Shotgun Players, TheatreWorks and Caela Fuji, Bill Gregory and Dick Ingram, Nancy Hulme, Alfredo Armas Jr., Sue Trowbridge, Jackson Green, The Zilbers, Theatre Q, and the San Francisco Performing Arts Library & Museum

And a very special thanks to Larry Arzie and David Stonesifer