Over my thirty years of seeing plays, one genre that I haven’t gotten the chance to experience much is horror. This is a shame, because I love horror. But I feel it’s a genre rather underrepresented on stage. It’s one thing to see something like Dracula, which is, of course, a type of horror, and I have seen before. But there’s a lot more that I want to see. I don’t know at what point I realized we were getting a horror play at People’s Light this year, but I was definitely excited when I did realize that. Even the blurb about Bonez was intriguing. I knew it was going to be a good one.
I can’t say I knew exactly what to expect. The write up gave us just enough info to know that things were going to get a little crazy. From the start, we’re looking at something interesting. Bonez refers to a nickname for the game of dominoes. Dominoes tiles were once made from animal bones, hence the nickname. It definitely adds an elevated type of element (obviously you can’t call a horror play Dominoez), as well as making things a little more mysterious. I definitely didn’t know about the word “bones” used for “dominoes”.
The thing about Bonez, and what I think makes it so successful and intense, is that it’s so much more than just horror, or even just one genre/sub-genre of horror. It starts out ordinarily enough, as we’re introduced to our characters. The cast is small, just four men, and each character is quite dynamic in their own way. Something I loved is that we see this from the start, but it gets more and more so as the play goes on. We’re looking at four black men, all vastly different and embodying various character types. None of them are “stereotypical”, another thing we see more and more of as the play progresses.
Things come up and various questions are raised. There’s the idea of masculinity, sexuality, what it’s like living as a black man. There are comments about being pulled over by police simply for “driving while black”. It’s the type of thing that could start any play. The creepy elements start slow. There’s honestly no way of knowing if they’re of the supernatural variety or just rude neighbors. I thought it was super cool.
Watching the characters play dominoes is actually quite interesting. I have to admit, I know absolutely nothing about dominoes, but they made it understandable (and not just because they gave a briefing on the rules at the start). Playing dominoes for these men is not just playing a game…it’s a whole culture. One of the characters, who is new to bones, is schooled in the game and the culture. It’s fascinating to watch…so much revolves around this game. And it’s such a normal thing happening in this apartment. Everything at the start seems normal.
How do I say just enough about Bonez? I definitely don’t want to give anything away. I guess I can talk about the whole mix of ideas that came up during the show. Like I said, it’s not just a horror play. There’s brilliant social commentary. That’s definitely not an easy thing to tackle. You have to be so careful with what you’re saying and how you’re saying it. Steve H. Broadnax III is a master of this. He had done a show at People’s Light a few seasons back called Bayard Rustin Inside Ashland that did the same thing. He wrote and directed Bonez, and he navigated some really hard stuff. He is unbelievably talented, and I can’t deny that some of it made me squirm in my seat. The reality of some of the social commentary can do that to anyone.
A lot of the horror was subtle. Most of it was more psychological and simply eerie, than downright scary. It was the sort of horror that gives you chills and shivers, and sort of makes you feel like someone (or something) is behind you. It’s the small stuff, the stuff that makes you start to question everything around you. Are the neighbors just noisy, or is it something unknown knocking? It wasn’t until the end when we got the full blast of horror. The buildup to that was jaw dropping.
I loved this show. I could barely tear my eyes away. There were small things that I saw, and many I’m sure I missed and would love to catch. I definitely got scared. Bonez was so well written and executed. There were beautifully intertwined relationships and storylines. No one was quite what they seemed. Nothing was quite what it seemed. It was exactly what a many layered horror show should be. And in the end, it all made a ton of sense. The ending was fantastic.
If you are in the Malvern area and like a show that has a little bit of everything and you can stomach a good amount of creepiness and horror, you should definitely see Bonez. Let me tell you, my friend who I saw it with hates horror, and even she enjoyed it. You’ll definitely be doing yourself a favor. It’s so hard to find a good horror play, and this one totally nails it. Horror plays in my future definitely have a lot to live up to. I don’t think I’ll ever see another show like Bonez…and I kind of like it like that.
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