Mr. Spacky the Man who was Continuously Followed by Wolves

Highly Recommended – Chicago Reader ” Emily Schwartz’s new melodrama for the Strange Tree Group–a “murder-muzical” in which the audience decides the ending–is both exquisitely silly and genuinely witty. Despite Mr. Spacky’s star billing, the story belongs to three female characters: a gullible bride-to-be and her sinister future sister-in-law and crazy niece. In a jocular twist, Mr. Spacky is the hysteric. Lovingly crafted set pieces create the play’s fanciful 100-year-old world, eroded by an unnamed war, while a seven-piece band provides vaguely archaic music” – Laura Molzahn, Chicago Reader 6/7/07

“Emily Schwartz’s Grand Guignol comedies typically feature dreadful people in ghastly situations (Edward Gorey comparisons are inevitable), and are written in such drolly deadpan parlance that they provoke the most socially inappropriate laughers (count us among them). This patented style—call it corn on macabre—might get tired fast. Even at 80 minutes, Mr. Spacky—which tells of a wartime country homestead to which young wealthy lovelies are lured by a handsome suitor and promptly offed—runs just a hair long. But Caroyn Klein’s shoestring staging, including a goth bluegrass band, still brims with subtle wit and amusingly dehydrated wisecracks” – Chris Piatt, TimeOut Chicago 6/7/07