Morgan Sophia Photography

Cast members execute campy acting in Theatre Lab’s world premiere production of Heebie Jeebies: Tales from the Midnight Campfire

By AARON KRAUSE

In one of the delightfully twisted moments from Gina Montet’s creepy-and-comic play, Heebie Jeebies: Tales from the Midnight Campfire, an educator administers a biology test. The students’ task: dissect the dead frog in front of them and correctly identify its parts. “These beautiful frogs gave up their lives for your education. I don’t think they’d appreciate it if you were sloppy or unprepared,” the instructor says, pretending to cry. It’s a perfect snapshot of the piece’s playful balance of eeriness and humor.

For anyone seeking a case of the “Heebie Jeebies,” Theatre Lab’s entertaining and engrossing professional production of Montet’s play runs through Oct. 12. The venue is the company’s intimate theater on Florida Atlantic University’s Boca Raton campus. Theatre Lab is the university’s resident professional theater company dedicated exclusively to new work.

This world premiere mounting, which runs about 70 minutes without intermission, serves as Theatre Lab’s annual Heckscher Theatre for Families Production. Theatre Lab recommends it for ages 7 and up. While the show features spooky music and other similar sound effects, there is nothing graphic or gory—its goal is to entertain, not startle.

Under Theatre Lab Producing Artistic Director Matt Stabile’s over-the-top, playful direction, the production features a cast of performers unafraid to appear silly in front of the audience. The cast, which mostly plays children, comprises Pryscila Cassiano Salinas, Brendan Feingold, Dayana Morales, Casey Sacco, Heather Simsay, Randall Swinton, and Casey Venema. Stabile and the cast lean into camp rather than realism. This signals that the audience should enjoy the action rather than take it too seriously.

The play’s setup is simple: Charlie is a typical teenage girl attending sleepaway summer camp—and hating it. When the show begins, she encounters a group of campers while trying to leave camp mid-session late at night. The youngsters strike a deal: they’ll tell her spooky stories by the campfire, and if she makes it to sunrise, they’ll help her get home. Charlie accepts the offer, and the stories begin.

Each tale starts with a character narrating. As the narration breaks off, the children become the characters within the story. Wisely, the playwright chooses to show rather than merely tell. While the yarns themselves are disparate, the storytelling session by the campfire ties them all together. This creates a cohesive frame for the audience.

In addition to its ability to thrill, the play likely resonates with us because we can recognize some of these characters. For instance, chances are you know somebody who dreaded taking a test because they were either unprepared or felt it was too hard. Also, we might remember from our own childhoods youngsters whose peers labeled them as nerds. And perhaps we were as clumsy as a child in one of the play’s tales.

“Camp is supposed to toughen me up,” Jesse states, flexing her arm—only to hurt herself in the process. Montet doesn’t specify the gesture or injury in her script. Rather, it’s a wise directorial choice that slightly deepens character in a play that generally showcases stereotypes. In Theatre Lab’s production, smart directorial choices also include positioning an outcast apart from the others, who huddle together as if conspiring against the misfit.

In this play, and Theatre Lab’s fine production, we don’t only recognize specific characters, but different situations. Specifically, this show may remind you of that all-night slumber party you attended in elementary school—an event in which at least one of your peers spilled secrets.

From movies, we likely remember that one strange, spooky kid who gave us the “heebie jeebies.” In one tale, a mother feels safe leaving her child with a babysitter while she goes out for the evening. The child repeatedly cries, “I want my blankee!”—coming onstage riding a real tricycle, eyes wide and expressionless, almost robotic. Seemingly magically, the white “blankee” becomes airborne, moving or “dancing” to eerie music before swallowing the poor babysitter, all in near-complete darkness, with a soundscape evoking the whimsical creepiness of a Tim Burton film.

Sound designer Joel Rodriguez’s effects effectively capture the play’s creepiness, while lighting designer Eric Nelson uses hues such as green and red to reinforce the eerie atmosphere. Also, fog helps establish an air of mystery and drama.

Scenic designer Michael McClain has created a spacious, evocative environment that suggests a wooded area on the campgrounds. Tree trunks dot the stage, and a rendered night sky complete with moon fills the backdrop. A seemingly magical campfire will also likely delight audiences.

Meanwhile, character-appropriate costumes by Timothy Bowman help differentiate the performers. For example, the campers Charlie encounters wear yellow and green shirts labeled “Camp Yaputka.” Contrastingly, Charlie—an eye-rolling, sulky Salinas—wears a greyish outfit that nicely complements her darkish mood.

The show sometimes settles for easy laughs, such as when a stuffed bear burps after devouring one or more persons. The ending may leave some viewers puzzled, but the humor endears us to the characters and their circumstances. Who, for instance, can resist frog humor?

“We already toad you,” a character exclaims during a tale involving frogs. It’s not a “riveting” tale but a “ribeting” yarn.

While much of Heebie Jeebies: Tales from the Midnight Campfire is, well, campy, there’s at least one moment that calls for vulnerability. In one of the tales, a physically ailing girl has learned that she has a serious disease. The performer who portrays the girl conveys vulnerability, but her crying could sound more authentic.

Although the ending might leave some audience members puzzled and one child’s moment of vulnerability could be more convincing, these are minor issues in a mostly spirited production. As an ensemble and individually, the cast generally captures the right tone through winning performances.

South Florida audiences are likely familiar with Montet’s work. Her devastatingly honest, urgent play Dangerous Instruments took the stage at Palm Beach Dramaworks last season and is now nominated for a Carbonell Award for Outstanding New Work. Comparing that play with the lightheartedly creepy Heebie Jeebies highlights Montet’s versatility: she can write everything from emotionally wrenching realism to playful, spooky camp.

As Montet notes in the program: “The theater, like a campfire, is a place for gathering. A glowing hearth where we come together to be warmed by a shared experience, and to pass our stories from one to another.”

In this production, Montet’s words hold truth. Through the ensemble’s lively performances, clever staging, and spirited scares, Heebie Jeebies invites audiences of all ages to laugh, shiver, and relish the timeless magic of a shared story.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: The world premiere production of Heebie Jeebies: Tales from the Midnight Campfire, by Gina Montet.

WHEN: Through Oct. 12. Performances are 3 and 7 p.m. Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. Join Theatre Lab for s’mores cooked by you on the patio starting at 6 p.m. for “S’mores Saturdays.” Also, enjoy arts and crafts projects on the patio starting at 2 p.m. Sundays.

WHERE: Theatre Lab is located on Florida Atlantic University’s Campus in Boca Raton. You can find the exact location at https://www.fau.edu/artsandletters/theatrelab/venue/. Complimentary parking for Theatre Lab patrons is available in Parking Garage 2 one hour before and after performances.

TICKETS: For tickets, call (561) 297-6124 or go to https://www.fau.edu/artsandletters/theatrelab

Morgan Sophia Photography

Kids can be cruel, as characters demonstrate during one of the “tales.”