Final Weekend Coming Up For LAB's 'Abbey Of The Holy Lonesome'

TAMPA, FL — LAB Theater Project will present the final weekend of its production, "The Abbey of the Holy Lonesome" Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. at the theater, 812 E Henderson Ave., Tampa.

For those who can't make it to the theater, performances will also be available for viewing on demand Nov. 3-17. Audience members who purchase on-demand tickets will be emailed a link to the video site.

The play is a spooky but lyrical tale of longing and repression, enchantment and treachery, told with a poetic sensibility and a finely crafted sense of its isolated, back-woods location.
Hunter, founder of the Linden Grove Theater Co. in Dallas, has had plays for both adults and children produced around the country.

"Abbey of the Holy Lonesome" is directed by local actor, writer, educator and director Katie Calahan, whose work has been seen at LAB, Think Tank, Stageworks and other theaters around the region and the U.S. Calahan is also the director of education for the nonprofit LAB Theatre Project.

The production features local actors Cheyenne DeBarros, Emma Hurlburt, Caroline Jett, Shay St. Clair and Karena Stanley. The set design is by Calahan and Michael Horn with artist Allison Redd, light design by Michael Horn, sound by Rick Fernandez and costumes by Lindsay Ellis.

“Abbey is a fairy tale, really, and fairy tales are meant to teach us about the world and our theoretical place in it," Hunter said. "I hope Abbey acts like a prism, bending the light of some cultural norms, breaking a spectrum that seems pretty sealed up into parts we can look at and evaluate separately.“

Calahan said she has been haunted by "Abbey of the Holy Lonesome" since she first read it.

“'The Abbey of the Holy Lonesome' is a tapestry of gorgeous imagery that not only surprised and scared me, but moved me. I felt called to the challenge of realizing not only its beautiful story and characters, but all of the magic," Calahan said. "The magic is very important to me. I’m thrilled at this chance to unleash those spells, dreams and creatures on an audience.”

In the play, character Mary-Larkin just wants a glimpse into her future, just a tiny peek of what her life is going to be. But when she makes a deal with Granny Binding to know her fate, there are strings attached. She’s bound to a tragic path, abandoning her three baby girls to fend for themselves in the wild lonesome holler of a terrible, greedy God.

When Laurel, Lily and Lilac come of age, they, too, must face Granny Binding’s powerful magic. Spiders and snakes converge on their tiny cabin, and the howl of the death-dog haunts their dreams. Can the sisters counter Granny’s dark workings with nascent powers of their own, or are they doomed to live out their lives like sister nuns, in the Abbey of the Holy Lonesome?

“It spun its web on me from the very first moment,” Calahan said. “I hope it sweeps you down the branch and touches your whole red beating heart with its magic.”

Tickets are $28 and are available through LAB’s website.