Los Angeles Theater Review: THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO (Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre Group)

DANCE MACABRE

Although there are only two performances left of the Zombie Joe’s Underground production of The Cask of Amontillado, this is a piece that should be extended; if it is given a chance to find its audience, it could run as long as ZJU’s Urban Death. This is art in its purest form; Zombie Joe is no fake, and the imagery he has created is endlessly inventive. There would seem to be no restrictions on the imagination that has literally exploded here, scored to a propulsive tempo that is in perfect synch with its images, and played live by the thrilling team of Shayne Easton and Michael Maio with a haunting assist from Nina Kate’s expressive violin. But, even though the work that Zombie Joe and his creative cast have achieved comes directly from Edgar Allan Poe’s elaborate short story, the material itself is just a launching pad for its evocative and often eye-popping stage pictures; it might even be said that the story itself doesn’t come through with much clarity, which doesn’t in any way alter the vivid impression that is made time and time again. The inexhaustible profusion of dance-like movement goes on and on, despite the fact that the story itself frequently gets lost and that the brilliant images don’t even seem, at times, to be related to the story. Call it something else if you will. But don’t let those fantastic visual ideas get away. Work this good must be seen.