Preview: Egregore

“Egregore.” (Eh-Greg-Gore for those who, like me, may be struggling with the pronunciation.) Debuting this Thursday in the Barron (and running until Saturday) is a play about a mysterious carnival, filled with people of extraordinary abilities. I had the pleasure and privilege of sitting down with the author and producer herself, Alicia Schultz, director Alexander Gillespie, and two members of the cast, namely Stephen Quinn and Sarah Pollock, to discuss this upcoming adventure. I advise everybody to book tickets now to ensure that you get to see what is sure to be a fascinating experience.

I was welcomed into the end of a rehearsal involving the two main characters: Roderick (Quinn), seemingly a different kind of everyman with the casual ability to hypnotize people, and Evie (Pollock), the dark and enticing carnival mistress. The preview I was given was a piece performed by Quinn. His character, Roderick’s, monologue was clever and quippy, promising good things about Schultz’s writing ability. I was hooked.

I had so many questions, some about what the play actually is about – which is fascinating in and of itself – but also about Alicia’s inspirations. The characters, to some extent, had been in the works for a while. However, Alicia explained that the story itself drastically shifted this summer, after she was inspired by some work she had seen at the Edinburgh Fringe. She has always been fascinated by stage hypnotism and the power of the human mind, and wondered if she could find a way to incorporate it into a play. And she has. So yes, people, get excited. Come see this play because we, the audience, are going to be hypnotized.

As for a general outline of the play itself (which is vague, because spoilers are no fun), we are following the story of Roderick, an out-of work hypnotist, who meets the mysterious Evie, and is sucked into her crazy world. There are 6 characters in total, all with special abilities. Director Alexander gives it the tagline of, “one f**ked up love story” and adds that it is a “pulp type of fiction.”  Alicia describes it as being “dark, but romantic and hopeful.” Google states that the definition of egregore actually is, “a concept representing a ‘thoughtform’ or ‘collective group mind’, an autonomous psychic entity made up of, and influencing, the thoughts of a group of people.” Which essentially, according to Alicia, means that it is about people being awesome and capable of crazy things. Ultimately, the “Egregore” team wants the audience to come away with an appreciation for the incredible power of human will, but also mostly for them to be entertained and have had fun since, after all, it is a carnival

To sum up, “Egregore” is sure to be an exciting and entertaining experience. When I asked for buzzwords describing the play, the responses were “Hypnotism, Carnival, Illusion, Tension,” and “Tiger.” If that’s not intriguing, then I don’t know what is. For the mere price of £5, come to the Barron on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday to not only see what is sure to be a great piece of theatre, but also to be juggled for, sang to, and perhaps most excitingly, hypnotized.