by AMY BARRATT

When Edgar Allan Poe wrote The Masque of the Red Death in 1842, it was a short story some eight pages long featuring (apart from a gang of unnamed revellers) only two characters: one a prince, the other, Death.

Concordia graduate Gillian Street's adaptation of the work, which opens tonight at the D.B. Clarke theatre, is a full-length play with 16 actors. It is being given a lavish, bouffon-influenced production by the Concordia theatre department, directed by Robert Astle.

The "Red Death" of the title is a plague, which Poe describes as marked by "sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution."

In the tale, Prince Prospero deals with the Red Death running rampant in the land by inviting 1,000 of his closest friends to retreat with him to one of his fortresses. One night, the Prince entertains his houseguests with a masked ball of "the most unusual magnificence."

Of her attraction to the material, the playwright says, "It's a timeless piece about the fear of death, and the lengths people go to to keep it away. This idea of putting up walls and barriers, and drinking and partying [to forget] is appropriate to this day and age as well."

Street is "really proud and excited" to see her text given the star treatment, especially since she only graduated last spring. The piece was originally written for an assignment in Kit Brennan's playwrighting class. It was Brennan who, believing it had potential, brought it to the attention of the department. The project has been gathering momentum ever since.

Astle, who teaches bouffon and clown techniques at the school, has been working as dramaturge on the piece for about a year and a half. His first reaction, he says, when shown an early draft, was "It's wonderful but impossible to stage." He was able to workshop it a bit with a class he was teaching. These graduating students have gone on to become the core cast for this production.

Talking about the play, Astle speaks excitedly, if somewhat mysteriously, about the "living dead" and "devil's disciples" and bringing the action "into the present." He describes a cast of eight characters representing the prince and his entourage, plus a chorus of eight that both mirrors and mocks the nobility. It's all performed on an elaborate set including trap-doors and ladders.

It's unusual, but nice, to see the theatre department use the D.B. Clarke in its natural state - in recent years they've been more likely to use small studio spaces for productions or put the audience on stage in the large theatre. Street thinks that's because they have trouble filling the big hall. Instead of the usual seven performances over two weekends, this time the department has scheduled five, all squeezed in between tonight and Sunday afternoon.

Go see The Masque of the Red Death now because, as Street is ruefully aware - "What was I thinking writing a piece with 16 characters?" - it's not likely to get a professional production any time soon. For now, we'll have to settle for professional-quality production values at a student theatre price.

The Masque Of The Red Death runs Dec. 11–13, 8pm; Dec. 12–13, 2 pm at D.B. Clarke Theatre (1455 de Maisonneuve W.), $5–$10, 848-2424, Ext. 4742

>> Stage Listings