Twilight Zone

Watch the line between fantasy and reality blur as you are taken through the 8 incredible stories in the Twilight Zone. The original show was a critically acclaimed television show and has been adapted to stage by Anne Washburn with Olivier Award-winner Richard Jones at the helm as the director. The eerie and uncanny tales are set in a starry night set, adding to the sense of outlandishness that the show strives to create.

Over time, however, you will begin to notice the patterns and follow the numerous independent tales. The confluence of contrasts is what reels you in; people stuck in between the states of wakefulness and sleep. The minimalist frame and setting work wonderfully well with the theme, and the crackling TV screen and detached doorway serve as a reminder of the original show. The muted blue and grey colour motif fits in perfectly with the look of the screen version. The mix of electric and acoustic music in the score helps set the sombre atmosphere. One of the strengths of the show is its ability to pay homage to the original, while still adding its own unique touch to the storyline.

The Story

Eight out of the 156 episodes of the Twilight Zone have been adapted for the stage, and the stories have been spliced together in a non-linear fashion. Everything from aliens with massive heads to mummified women are featured on the show, along with frenzied ventriloquists and pilots.

One of the stories, aptly named “The Shelter”, focuses on a group scuffling for space inside an atomic bunker, owing to the impending nuclear strike. Racial tensions and gaps in economic status hit hard, and warn us about how the potential near future may look. In “Nightmare as a Child,” an amnesiac woman is haunted by a ghost of her past, who warns her of impending danger. “The Long Morrow” follows the story of an astronaut who is forced to spend half a century in space, while his lover waits for him, undying in her devotion. “Perchance to Dream” narrates the story of an insomniac who is terrified of an imaginary femme fatale, and the story has an ingenious twist at the end. “Will The Real Martian Stand Up?” is played out as a comedy, and dilutes the eeriness of the original television episode. It follows the story of bus passengers who are stranded in a diner and are under suspicion of being undercover aliens. “Eye of the Beholder” is a plastic surgery tale that is quite relevant to our modern-day obsession with beauty. This medley of stories moves forward with an intriguing underlying theme that takes shape in a gradual and deeply reflective manner.

Good for

Fans of the Original Show | Lovers of Aliens and Paranormal Themes