A theatre production playing right now in Minneapolis, part of the Minnesota Fringe Festival:
By Nichole Carey & Company
Directed by Callie Aho
Rarig Nolte Xperimental Theatre
August 1 - August 10
A lonely traveler stirs up the ghosts of literature’s most dysfunctional couple in this gothic send-up full of brooding and buried secrets. Come for the melodrama, stay for the unnecessary song & dance number."Withering Lows" is a gothic homage of epic proportions—equal parts ghost story, romantic tragedy, and absurd comedy. Written by Nichole Carey, the play picks up years after the events of Wuthering Heights, with the ghosts of Heathcliff and Cathy still haunting their former home… and still arguing about whose story was more tragic. A lonely traveler stumbles into the drama, setting off a chain of eerie, hilarious, and unexpectedly heartfelt events.
Created by Nichole Carey and Andrew Lester—real-life spouses who are clearly having a ball destroying each other onstage—Withering Lows is a surreal, self-aware, and deeply funny descent into literary madness. The show is one part Brontë, one part cabaret breakdown, and one part interpretive dance fever dream. Somehow, it works.
Carey stars as Cathy, and she doesn’t so much play the role as unleash it. Her Cathy is a ghostly diva, clinging to melodrama like it’s oxygen. Carey’s performance is a blend of biting wit and full-throated commitment; she knows exactly what kind of show she’s in and steers into the curve. She’s also the writer, and it shows—in the best way. The script is sharp, self-lacerating, and full of references that ping between Brontë and Bumble with wild precision.
Lester’s Heathcliff is brooding, yes, but also unexpectedly hilarious. As both choreographer and designer, Lester infuses the show with physical comedy and dance sequences that oscillate between beautiful and totally unhinged. There’s a moment involving chairs that has no business being as funny—or weirdly touching—as it is. (Jared Fessler)
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