Review Roundup: STUMP SPEECHES
As we close in on our closing weekend for this year's Pumpkin Pie Show: STUMP SPEECHES, I'd like to take this opportunity to look back at all the ink that has been spilled over our latest…
““The Pumpkin Pie Show: Stump Speeches,” the delightfully perverse, political-themed installment of the annual macabre merriment led by the writer and performer Clay McLeod Chapman, provides strong evidence that the bloody tools of Lovecraftian horror are effective this political season… What makes Mr. Chapman… such a skilled craftsman is he does not choose between subtle and heavy-handed or teasing suspense and gruesome shocks. He knows that in the best horror, the vulgar dances with the refined.”—The New York Times. CRITICS' PICK
Read the full review here.
“A dependable Halloween season source of unsettling images that worm their way into the brain with nothing more than sheer word power and impeccable acting, this 19th season of horror scribe Clay McLeod Chapman’s gutsy storytelling session finds its finest conduit yet in the debate stage… As fun to watch as the current race is hard to stomach, “Stump Speeches” is an evening of theater that draws back the curtain on human nature and delivers what the voting booth can’t: satisfaction that doesn’t require compromise, and a party line that’s beyond reproach.” The Villager.
Read the full review here.
A “diabolically entertaining and unsettlingly funny show… Reviving the Pumpkin Show tradition with tenacious energy, sharp wit and an appreciable recognition of the real horrors confronting Americans in this election cycle, Stump Speeches is a morbid delight – a caricature of American politics in the form of a science fiction feature or classic monster flick.”—My Entertainment World. Read the full review here.
“The most timely and relevant theater show of the season…” It is “...an extremely vulgar show… vulgar in the very best way possible.” It is “vicious.” It is “sadistic.” “Gruesome.” “Ludicrous.” And it is “incredible to watch such talent and raw emotion put into the storytelling of these outlandish characters.”—Washington Square News. Read the full review here.
“Indulges in politically-themed Lovecraftian horror” filled with “eerie pathos.” Kristen Vaughan is “complicated and delicious in her portrayal of a would-be First Woman President.”—Theatre Is Easy. Read the full review here.
“Chapman manages to use the real fear and suspense of this election season to mold a comedic, yet uncomfortable piece of theater that hits very close to home.”—Manhattan With A Twist. Read the full review here.
November 1, 2016
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“A deeply eerie and evocative portrayal of what it's like to stare into the abyss and find something there waiting for you. A memorable, disquieting ghost story about stories, rendered inside a Möbius strip.”
— Kirkus
