Once More, With Feeling

Artists don’t always revisit older work. 

But that’s exactly what Lynn Panting and Philip Goodridge are doing with Eli and the Death Curse. Produced by Untellable in partnership with RCA Theatre, the play takes the LSPU Hall main stage from Friday, January 27th to Sunday, January 29th. 

Panting and Goodridge first created Eli and the Death Curse way back in 2009, and launched a main-stage performance of the show at the LSPU Hall in 2011. 

“I did some excavation work in my email, and discovered Philip sent me the first-ever full draft of the show on June 12th, 2009; we were prepping for a reading series called Backdoor Cabaret,” Panting explains. “Then we spent two years workshopping it, and launched it in 2011 on the main stage with Nicole Rousseau as our director.”

The plot of both the 2011 and 2023 versions revolves around an orphan named Eli, whose parents died mysteriously shortly after his birth. In fact, everyone Eli grows close with either meets their maker or brushes up against death. Eli encounters Lilah, a brave and bold girl, and finds a friend in Anne, who is an intrepid traveler. Together, they defeat Eli’s death curse. There’s a timelessness to the plot, and the idea was one Goodridge had been mulling over for some time.

“We were at Magnetic North Theatre Festival; there was this huge contingency of Newfoundlanders; someone was throwing a reception, and I was talking to Nicole Rousseau about Eli and the Death Curse. She just said, ‘Finish it. Finish it and we’ll do it.’ Because of Lynn and Nicole, Eli and the Death Curse had a first life, and now a second.”

The 2011 main-stage production of Eli and the Death Curse was done on a shoestring budget. “We had a great experience during that first run,” says Goodridge. “The set had this Tim Burton feel; Jamie Skidmore was our set designer; George Robertson did the music, and Nicole directed. But the run was really short, and the budget was non-existent; I don’t think we made a hundred dollars. We were not able to pay ourselves.” 

The play’s short run, tiny budget, and enduring nature meant the idea of a remount lingered.

“I’ve always felt Eli and the Death Curse could have a second life. It’s a fairy tale.  It deals with archetypes but twists and plays with those in a fascinating way. I could do it over and over again and still find meaning in it,” says Panting. “Plus, we’ve had so many new experiences as people and artists, we’ve grown so much and when the ten-year anniversary started to approach, I began to think about all the new things we could bring to the story.”

So what’s different about Eli and the Death Curse in 2023?

Like the original production, three actors take turns narrating, but this time, they’re joined by a trio of shadow dancers moving behind silk screens. There’s also a three-piece band and new original songs featuring the viola, accordion, and piano by Kyle McDavid.  Panting explains, “Nicole Rousseau and I received funding to explore our artistic processes and how they’ve shifted. Nicole [the dramaturge for this new production] starts with the text and is very text-based, but I work with the body. That’s my medium, and those are the strengths I could bring to the story as the director.”

Each shadow dancer in Eli and the Death Curse stands behind a panel, and a 3D person transforms into a 2D moving illustration. This technique is appropriate for a fairy tale. “When we turn the screen, it’s like we’re opening a page in a book. It’s fun for me to work this way as a director because I get to play in the meta element; the relationship between the shadows and the narrators is so interesting; the audience will start to wonder– ‘who is omnipotent, who’s pushing the story along?’ I could never have done that without the original production living in my memory,” says Panting. “It looks very different, but it’s very old techniques. It’s story-telling and shadow-puppets.”

While Eli and the Death Curse is a great production for children, it’s a story anyone can enjoy. “A friend of ours was like, ‘I need to find a niece or nephew and bring them,’” says Goodridge. “And I told them to bring themselves. When I write, I’m writing for me; what does adult Phil find funny? What would I enjoy? I love writing for children–there’s more room for play, but you don’t need to be a kid to enjoy this story.”

Catch Eli and the Death Curse on the main stage this weekend. Tickets are available through the LSPU Hall box office, and prices are more than fair. Panting explains, “Rather than have a kid’s price or different admissions, we’re offering everyone the lowest possible price plus hall fees. We’re also telling folks, ‘hey, if you have the means and want to support, then there’s a 35-dollar optional ticket price.”

If you miss Eli and the Death Curse this weekend, there’s a chance you can catch it in ten years. “I feel like we could do it again. I think it’s a story that could be revisited repeatedly. It would be pretty interesting to reinterpret it in a decade.”