←Recommendations of The King in Yellow

Portraying Lovecraftian insanity runs the same dangerous pitfall of ye old sci-fi aliens. How do you truly create something not biased through the human lens of being alive? Soucy does a damned excellent job of not only crafting a fitting homage to Chambers' iconic work, but building a playground where true madness reigns. There's no sense to be found here, except the rules are actually quite plain. Also, a neat question for our turbulent times. What would you do to keep your theatre open?

This play uses a fantastically realized type of eldritch horror rarely seen on the stage, and I love it to bits. Seeing the characters, atmosphere, and lore around the strange powers they're dealing with all descend into madness over the course of the play is impactful, interesting, and constantly entertaining all at once. Masterfully executed, The King In Yellow is a must-read for any horror fans, and a play I hope to one day see in person.

This is such a powerful and eerie ensemble play. It begins with normal characters. Actors and artists with archetypal needs and goals. And as the story unfolds, their desires become twisted. The ending of this play feels a bit like the powerful stomp dance of Rite of Spring. It will thunder through the theatre and echo through audiences minds for ages.

Even if you are unfamiliar with the genre of the Robert Chambers horror stories that is invoked by Christopher Soucy in this remarkable play, you will be drawn in to the world within a world... and another within that one. It was done in a masterful reading at the 2024 Valdez Theatre Conference, but I was also reminded of those cheesy and cheap horror movies of the past such as the cult classic "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things." I can't wait to see it as a full production; it out-hammers Hammer Films.

I saw this at the Valdez Theatre Conference (well, a recording of it anyway) and richly enjoyed its mix of humor, drama, and the macabre. Soucy deftly manipulates tone as a lighthearted piece about a community theatre production slowly degenerates into a descent into madness. It's maybe the closest thing to a Twilight Zone episode I've seen on stage, and I mean that as a compliment. Kudos also for writing a 3-act play in this day and age; read the play and it will be clear why a 3-act structure is both necessary and immensely rewarding.

I saw this read at Valdez Theatre Conference and was stunned! I've always loved ghost stories and this one felt like it was designed for me. Diving into a world with the same mystical/legendary quality Interview With A Vampire was thrilling and I so hope to see this in full production!

Soucy's THE KING IN YELLOW has taken the stories from Robert Chambers' collection and ingeniously woven them through a contemporary tale about a bankrupt theatre company producing a play they learn the hard way is cursed. The play within a play within a play intricacies are so finely crafted and the descent into madness of each character is so blood curdling in its own character-driven way. In production this play would be absolutely thrilling!

Reading seen at the Valdez conference. A mysterious stranger buys a theater and commands that the company perform a cursed play that drives all who read it mad. How’s that for a premise? Thrills and chills await in a narrative that has original elements but is true to the spirit of the source, that strange tome of nameless horror, Chambers’ 1895 cult classic.

For everybody who's been longing for some good old fashioned horror on stage - and I'm not talking another Dracula adaptation here, I'm talking about the proto-Lovecraftian WEIRD stuff - Soucy has given us cause to rejoice. His dexterity in juggling the various stories in Chambers' original collection THE KING IN YELLOW and fashioning them into a single coherent dramatic narrative is matched by his marvelous facility with psychological terror, Grand Guignol gore, and demented humor. Surrender to the madness!

A play reading at the Valdez Theater Festival was extremely well-received. The interweaving of some of the original stories that tie to the current story of a struggling theater attempt to produce the cursed play was very effective. There is humor to release the tension but it keeps the focus on the horror and supernatural of the source material. Very well done! It deserves a very brave company to produce in an October show.