Review: The Summoned, Etcetera Theatre

In the most ambitious play I’ve seen in the small space that is the Etcetera Theatre, only a few minutes in to The Summoned ,ten characters are on stage and all hell has broken loose. The problem is that it’s too much too soon: we’re plunged into the action before the two leads have barely been introduced, and then it’s a fast, fun, but slightly ludicrous thirty minutes until the interval.

That very rushed opening sequence establishes that Caleb (Tom Highmore) and Evelyn (Phoenix Benham) always enjoy a spooky Halloween date night, and this year Caleb’s taken her to an abandoned monastery that’s doubling as an escape room. But that’s all we learn about them as participants. Mya (Katy Bevan) and Victor (Dominic Quinn) arrive, while a priest stumbles in and announces he’s only present to protect everyone. Before they have a second to consider what or why that might be, Lucien (Dragos Bejanaru) enters, pursued by three hooded figures, and instantly earns the nickname “Devil Boy” from one of the characters who has previously never met him.

And it does appear that there’s a good chance he might be the infamous fallen angel, too. With a goatee beard, bald head and some fancy contact lenses, he certainly looks the part. Plus, Lucien’s capable of a number of supernatural feats. These include a Darth Vader-style choke hold, the ability to hypnotise someone into following his every command, or leave them in a semi-comatose state with the click of his fingers. But too much of what then follows in the first act is a huge exposition dump, as it becomes clear that Evelyn has met Lucien before and is terrified of him, while Dorian (Joshua Richardson) turns up out of the blue and is convinced that Lucien is the reason why his sister went missing five years ago. To give the audience a chance to keep up, Mya seems to have had access to a mysterious book that allows her to explain every weird thing which takes place, and Victor and Caleb angrily shout at Lucien but almost get killed for doing so.

And then, because this play races through nearly all of its ideas with the subtlety of a caffeine-infused bull in the world’s smallest china shop, Lucien holds a bizarre ritual where he demands people sacrifice something they love, even if that is sometimes just a locket or a piece of paper. When they do, they’re hit by a massive surge of incredible power. Or not. Or they die. Either way, the cast members have about two seconds to respond before something else mad, traumatic, or crazy occurs. Unfortunately, the plot doesn’t hold up under scrutiny, and while certain elements can be handwaved away as being of a supernatural nature, the manner in which the characters act can’t. At one point, Victor freaks out and warns everyone that if they’re not careful, someone could get seriously hurt, having apparently forgotten that someone did actually die in the first half.

The Summoned is thoroughly enjoyable, even if I don’t think my largely incredulous reaction was what the playwright intended. Bejanaru often comes across as genuinely creepy, Benson makes for an extremely sympathetic lead, while all of the cast deserve acclaim for tackling roles which demand an enormous range of emotions in a very short timespan. But there’s just too much going on here, with the characters not given time to behave in a believable manner, and due to that, The Summoned is often in danger of feeling more like a comedy than a horror.

Written & Directed by Phoenix Benham
Produced by Distorted Rebels Productions

The Summoned runs at the Etcetera Theatre until Saturday October 25,
then at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre until Friday October 31