Most all my original productions these days are staged at The Historic Lowry House in Huntsville, Alabama, an antebellum mansion located in the city’s historic cotton mill area. Before Huntsville became home to NASA and started sending people to the moon, it was a cotton town, with no less than three large mills. Each mill had its own “village” that grew up around it, comprised of housing for workers, commissaries where they went to shop, and schools for their children. None of the mills is still operational, and only one is still standing. One of the schools is left, but is rumored to be closing soon. Some of the houses remain, and in the midst of them, hidden from sight via the main highway, is the grand old Lowry plantation house. The village grew up around it and is now disappearing around it. And into this beating heart of pure Southern Gothic I introduced the story of Gilles de Rais, the “Exterminating Beast,” primary inspiration for the fairy tale boogeyman “Bluebeard.” Up next I will tell you why Gilles de Rais can rightfully also be called a werewolf.
In the play, Gilles both proclaims his innocence as well as boasts of his guilt. He offers tearful contrition and gleefully swings his battleaxe, luxuriating in his record, his tally of victims. I eschewed providing the audience with a clear-cut answer. Did Gilles do it? And if he did, WHY did he do it? Was he insane? A sociopath? Was his confession all a sham? I wanted the audience to make up their own minds. As they filed out after each performance, I would ask people at random whether they thought Gilles was innocent or guilty. My favorite reply: “I don’t know. But I hope your next show is a Comedy!”
